Man acquitted of all charges in Sikeston Rotary Park shooting

SIKESTON, Mo. (KFVS) - A man was acquitted of all charges, including first-degree murder, in connection with an April shooting.

Tanner Watkins, 20, was acquitted on Wednesday, December 13 of all charges against him related to the April 25 shooting at Rotary Park in Sikeston.

In what’s considered a rare legal move, a Reynolds County judge granted the order of acquittal.

Watkins’ attorney, Russell Oliver, told us he filed a motion for judgement of acquittal after a jury could not reach an unanimous verdict in the trial. The judge granted the motion on Wednesday.

It total, Watkins was acquitted of nine separate felony charges, including first-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. He faced life without the possibility of parole if convicted.

The case was heard in Reynolds County on a change of venue.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Watkins’ attorney, Russell Oliver, said Watkins and his brother Tyler went to the park for a fist fight, but drove into an ambush.

You can read the full statement below.

“The evidence presented over the course of the week-long trial established that Tanner Watkins came to Rotary Park that day for a fist-fight. Instead, what Tanner and his brother Tyler drove into was an ambush. As Tanner entered the park, Tyler was in a separate vehicle driving behind him. Both vehicles were fired upon by Levi Morgan and K.M.. Levi Morgan was firing two separate weapons, an AR-15 style .300 blackout ARP and a .40 caliber Glock with a 30 round magazine. K.M. was firing a 9mm Walther handgun. Early in the course of the ambush, Tyler’s car was immobilized after being struck by a .40 caliber bullet fired by Levi Morgan. Tyler and his passenger were 100% unarmed and gunshot residue tests confirmed neither had fired a weapon that day. Tanner’s brother and his passenger were sitting ducks in the middle of the open park as the Morgan brothers continued to rain down dozens of bullets on their immobilized car. As Tanner was leaving the park after having been shot at by the Morgan brothers, he realized that his brother’s car was not moving and was still being shot at by the Morgan brothers. It was only at this point that Tanner stopped his vehicle, stood in the open park drawing the fire off his brother’s car and onto himself, and then returned fire (with a gun that was always in his vehicle) to save his brother’s life and the life of his brother’s passenger. The actions of Tanner Watkins that day to save his brother’s life were selfless and heroic, not criminal”

“In addition, the evidence presented at trial failed to prove that Tanner actually shot either of the victims,” Oliver said. “It appeared from the evidence presented at trial that the victims were in fact inadvertently shot by the Morgan brothers as they wildly sprayed the park with bullets.”

“This case and the actions of Tanner Watkins that day was a clear lawful use of self-defense and defense of another,” he continued. “Anyone put in Tanner’s unfortunate position would have done whatever was necessary to save the life of his brother and his friend.”

The other defendant in the case, Kaleb Ramsey, is scheduled to be in court on Thursday, Dec. 14.

Ramsey was also charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, three counts of first-degree assault and four counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

Back in April, Sikeston Department of Public Safety officers were called to several reports of gunfire coming from Rotary Park on Industrial Drive.

According to court documents, officers found a Chevrolet Malibu pulled onto the side of Malone Avenue near Pine Street. Three people were inside the car, including a injured woman in the front seat, an injured man in the back seat and a juvenile in the back seat.

Police said an 18-year-old man was pronounced dead at an area hospital and an 18-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries.

According to Sikeston DPS at the time, they learned a fight between several people on social media led to the shooting at the park.