Pico mechanic to be sentenced next month
Relatives of a homeless man who was shot dead last July pleaded with a judge Friday to lock up the killer for the maximum possible sentence.
Michael Ward Bell, 55, who was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter last month for fatally shooting Andre Watson, sobbed as Watson’s family members recounted the 25-year-old man’s life.
Bell’s supporters appeared in court as well, though they didn’t speak to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen.
Tom Bergman, of Signal Hill, said outside of the courtroom that he met Bell in jail while serving a two-month sentence for domestic violence.
“He was in the bed next to me and he cried every night,” Bergman said. “It tormented him.”
Bell shot Watson six times outside of the auto repair shop he managed on Pico Boulevard. He said he acted in self defense after being attacked by Watson, a diagnosed schizophrenic with a history of violence.
Judge Van Sicklen will sentence Bell on Aug. 22. He faces a sentence as light as probation or up to 21 years in prison.
Three of Watson’s family members made emotional pleas to Judge Van Sicklen Friday, asking him to remember Watson as a sick man but one that didn’t deserve to die.
“He wasn’t just my nephew,” said Brenetta Glass, whose voice cracked from emotion as she leafed through photos of Watson. “He was like a brother. To hear his laughter — I hear it now — he had such a love for life.”
Bell, who has been in custody since the July 1, 2002 shooting, was dressed in a blue LA County Jail jumpsuit with his hands bound to his chair. He looked over at Joanne Glass- Watson as she spoke about her son.
“Mr. Bell, I forgive you,” she said, looking back at him, tears streaming down her cheek. “It is not in my heart not to forgive you.”
But Glass-Watson said she still wants the maximum jail sentence. She said Bell made a decision to shoot Watson when he could have locked himself in his shop and called for help.
Watson left home at the age of 17 when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Expert witnesses described him during the trial as an exceptionally intelligent man who was prone to fits of rage interspersed with long periods of calm behavior.
Shortly before he was killed, Watson was released from jail after serving half of a 15-day sentence for attacking two teenage girls with a box cutter on Santa Monica Beach.
Bell said Watson first indicated he wanted to slice his throat from across the street and later in the day tried to enter his shop with a blade in his hand. When Bell went to lock up the shop and heard a noise, he said he panicked and grabbed a.357 Magnum in his file cabinet drawer.
After walking more than 50 feet down Pico Boulevard, Bell said Watson jumped him, prompting him to unleash six rounds, four of which connected with Watson’s hip, thigh and pelvis. He died of massive bleeding.
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mark Burnley pushed for first-degree murder during the trial, arguing that Bell methodically and deliberately shot at Watson as he lay in a fetal position on the sidewalk near BT Automotive, the auto repair shop Bell managed.
Despite Watson’s devastating illness, family members said they held out hope that he would one day find the right medication and return to his family in Chicago. He had spent the last eight years working with various groups out west, at one point traveling with a carnival.
But every six or seven months, Watson would have an episode of psychosis and he would leave to travel to a new place, Glass-Watson said, Before he left his family, Watson had won awards for his classical guitar playing and had served as a Cub Scout and as an altar boy, Glass-Watson said.
He was diagnosed just one month before his graduation from high school. That summer, he left.
“He said to me, ‘Mom, if I’m going down the tubes, I’m going by myself. I’m not taking anyone with me,’” Glass- Watson said while crying.
The last time she heard from Watson was by telephone in February. Glass- Watson said her son would call once or twice a year to check in.
“He said, ‘Mom, I want to apologize to you for not being the son that you deserve,’” she said. “And I said, ‘Your sisters and I just finished talking about you. And do you know what we said? We decided you are one of the most beautiful people we’ve ever met.’” Theme park designer wants what she thinks she deserves
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2003. Read the original PDF.