Macon woman pleads guilty to shooting pregnant stepmother in 2020 murder case

A Macon woman pleaded guilty Monday in Bibb Superior Court to killing her pregnant stepmother and trying to suffocate her 11-year-old stepbrother in a high-profile 2020 murder case.

Passion Latrice Watkins, now 22, was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole plus 10 years for shooting her stepmother, Melanie Powers, the morning of April 26, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and court testimony.

Attorneys said Watkins came to the house on Radio Drive just off Napier Avenue after her 19th birthday party April 25 of 2020 and talked to Powers, 36, and her stepbrother normally before they went to sleep.

In the early hours of the next morning Watkins went to Powers’ room, got a gun, and shot Powers in the head before trying to smother her stepbrother with a pillow, attorneys said.

Prosecuting attorneys, the defense and Watkins herself all failed to give a reason for the killing, which remained inexplicable after some speculation by Judge Howard Z. Simms.

““Can you tell me why this happened?” Simms asked Watkins during the plea.

The courtroom was silent as Watkins did not answer.

“You’re 22, Passion, and no matter what I do today, you’re gonna be an old woman if you ever get out,” Simms said. “What you didn’t explain then, and what you can’t explain now, is the ‘why.’ And that’s terrifying. That something like this can happen and you can’t explain why.”

Watkins underwent mental health treatment between the crime and the plea, according to her defense attorney. She had been “a good student” at Westside High School in Macon prior to her arrest, the attorney said.

Members of both Powers’ and Watkins’ families testified on the impact of the case before Simms sentenced Watkins.

“This is something (Powers’ stepson) will have to live with for the rest of his life,” Powers’ mother said. “We are trying to take care of him and raise him in a good way…. It’s upsetting.”