Ex-Findlay track athlete pleads guilty in shooting

9/1/2006

FINDLAY A former University of Findlay track standout charged in the shooting death of a Fostoria man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Hancock County Common Pleas Court to charges of carrying a concealed weapon and obstructing justice.

Kendall Stevens, 23, of Findlay agreed to testify in the case against his brother, Curtis Stevens, who is charged with murder, felonious assault, and carrying a concealed weapon in the June 6 death of Reginald Watkins, 23, a former Toledo resident.

Curtis Stevens, 21, of Decatur, Ga., is to go on trial Oct. 30. He is being held without bond in the Hancock County jail.

Watkins, who was facing drug charges in Hancock County at the time of his death, was at a bar in downtown Findlay with the suspects and then went to a party at a home on Stadium Drive on Findlay s south side. There, he reportedly got into an argument with Kendall Stevens just before 3 a.m.

Investigators said Curtis Stevens pulled a gun and shot Watkins. The brothers fled, but their car was stopped by police a few blocks away. Police said they recovered two handguns from the Stevenses vehicle.

The brothers, who originally are from Lima, Ohio, have been held in the Hancock County jail since the incident.

Hancock County Prosecutor Bob Fry told Judge Joseph Niemeyer that he would recommend the $50,000 bond for Kendall Stevens be reduced to a personal recognizance bond after a presentence investigation is completed.

Judge Niemeyer scheduled sentencing for Kendall Stevens for Nov. 9.