HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas — At the end of December, it will be one year since the tragic murders of a Hot Springs mom and her 5-year-old son.
Police have yet to find any solid leads to get closure for the family, so they are asking for your help and releasing new information to solve the case.
Shaquilla Watts was 21 years old. Her son, Zay'vion, was 5 years old. Their family describes them as kind and loving with contagious smiles.
It was December last year. Loved ones became worried when Shaquilla and Zay'vion didn't show up to a family funeral.
"I knocked on her door and we went around the apartment and no answer," said Shaquilla's sister, Angela Alfaro.
Alfaro called the Hot Springs Police Department to do a welfare check. On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, officers found Shaquilla and her son shot to death in their apartment.
"I just don't understand why somebody would do something like that, kill an innocent baby... 4 years old. Shoot 'em and kill 'em like that," said Shaquilla's great uncle Billy Evans.
Police are giving us new information trying to solve this cold case. First, they believe the suspect and the victim knew each other. There was no forced entry.
Second, police say Shaquilla and Zay'vion were killed on the evening of Sunday, December 27, 2020 — two days prior to when officers found their bodies.
Zay'vion's birthday would have been this week. It's also the first holiday family will celebrate without them. All they want is to find out who did this.
"They didn't deserve it, so I'm begging everybody or whoever knows anything to please come forward," said Alfaro.
If you have any information, you are asked to call Hot Springs Police Department.