Left inset: Mychael Thompson (KLAS/YouTube). Right inset: Antwon Watson (KSNV/YouTube). Background: The Las Vegas apartment complex where Mychael Thompson allegedly shot and killed his longtime pal and “roommate” Antwon Watson (KLAS/YouTube).
In a tragic turn of events in Nevada, a man is accused of fatally shooting his longtime friend and roommate over suspicions of infidelity involving his girlfriend. The victim, a father of five with another child soon to arrive, had temporarily moved in with the accused while awaiting his own housing arrangements, according to family accounts.
“He sought refuge with someone he trusted, only to be betrayed,” expressed Faith Watson, daughter of the deceased, Antwon Watson, in an interview with NBC affiliate KSNV. She spoke of the heart-wrenching betrayal her father faced at the hands of Mychael Thompson, the alleged perpetrator.
Hope Watson, another daughter, shared her distress, saying, “He knew my dad for a long time, and he shot him, leaving him dead in the parking lot.”
The incident unfolded on February 12 in Las Vegas, specifically at the apartment complex located on the 4800 block of Spencer Street. A police press release detailed how an argument between the two men escalated, resulting in Thompson allegedly shooting Antwon Watson.
The grim discovery was made by Thompson’s girlfriend, who found Antwon Watson’s body near a dumpster outside the apartment. She had been inside with her three children when she stumbled upon the scene, as reported in court documents obtained by CBS affiliate KLAS. Thompson had reportedly fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, but authorities were able to track him down through his vehicle.
According to the court documents, Thompson’s girlfriend informed police that he returned home early in the morning after a night of heavy drinking and confronted Antwon Watson with accusations of infidelity involving her.
“Lay off the alcohol,” she recalled Watson telling Thompson, before the two of them allegedly went outside. The woman said she saw the men arguing chest-to-chest before they exited the residence.
“As [the girlfriend] walked out of the master bedroom, she heard one gunshot and could smell gun powder,” the court documents obtained by KLAS say. “She observed Mychael in the bathroom and Antwon run toward the front door of the apartment. She went back to the bedroom and closed the door with the children inside. When she came out, both men were gone and she went out to find Watson laying on the ground and patrol cars arriving.”
Video footage obtained by police from a neighbor’s security camera allegedly shows Thompson accusing his girlfriend and Antwon Watson of having an affair. The longtime friend moved in with them a month before the shooting, cops and family say.
“I hope he [will] be in jail for the rest of his life because … we’re all in pain right now,” another one of Antwon Watson’s daughters, Destiny Watson, told KSNV. “We’re all sad, the whole family.”
After being taken into custody, Thompson allegedly changed his story several times and claimed at one point he wasn’t at the apartment. Police said he wasn’t “taking the interview and situation seriously” and refused to “give detectives his attention,” according to court documents.
Thompson is facing a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon. He is being held without bail.
