Kevin Watson was jailed when he was 15 and often told young relatives — from his 7-year-old son to his nieces and nephews — “not to follow in his footsteps,” his sister said.
“We have some [relatives] going off to college right now, honors program children who are into sports because of him,” Teletha Watson, his younger sister, said. “He came back into the community and that’s who he went for, the kids and the teenagers.”
Kevin Watson, 40, was streaming on Facebook Live about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 5000 block of West Madison Street when a driver approached him and an occupant of the car fired shots, Chicago police and his sister said.
Teletha Watson, 35, scrambled to Mount Sinai Hospital after getting a call from their sister saying that Kevin Watson had been shot while he streamed on Facebook Live.
A couple of hours earlier, the two were laughing and buying popsicles and candy at a gas station.
“He’s a fighter, that’s what was going through my head,” Teletha Watson said as she recounted what was going through her mind as she rushed to the hospital. “He’s going to be okay. Nothing’s going to happen. I’m almost there.”
Watson, of Austin, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about a half an hour later, at 6:52 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
“We can’t eat, we can’t sleep, my head has been banging,” Teletha Watson continued. “I’m hurt, I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m sick. I don’t even believe that this is the new reality.”
Her brother had rock solid principles he lived by until the very end of his life. When approached by the gunman, Kevin Watson stepped out of his car to fight instead of using a gun and the gunman opted to shoot him instead, according to his sister.
The Facebook Live video purportedly shows Kevin Watson in a car when the assailant approached and began saying something inaudible to him.
“What’s up bro?” Watson said to the assailant. “What’s up?” and then “Hell nah” as he stepped outside of his car and the blast of an apparent gunshot could be heard followed by the sound of an engine revving, according to the video.
“He gave them a pass, and I want people to know that he gave them the chance to fight like men,” Teletha Watson said.
Kevin Watson was an entrepreneur who promoted parties, clubs, shoes and dress clothes. His “big lips and smile” were always the first thing someone noticed when he arrived.
“My brother was the goofiest, the funniest, the most liveliest person I know,” Teletha Watson said. “He was there in the present for these kids, for his family.”
Kevin Watson’s principles were also grounded in a playful spirit and he loved not just his 7-year-old son but his nieces and nephews as if they were his own, especially after the rough times he had when he was younger.
He loved kids and wanted to teach them there is a non-violent way to live life, said his sister.
“I’ve had people walk up to me to tell me that my brother helped them and their kids and I didn’t even know some of these people,” Teletha Watson said.