Indianapolis man accused of killing two teens

INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis man accused of killing two teenagers who vanished on Christmas Eve appeared before a judge Wednesday, days after police found a gruesome mix of blood and apparent brain matter outside his home and two bloody trails leading away from it.

The judge entered a not-guilty plea for Kevin Watkins, 49, during his initial hearing on two counts of murder in the killings of 16-year-old Satori Williams and 15-year-old Timmee Jackson.

Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson said afterward that authorities were still searching for the teens' bodies. But she said investigators have collected sufficient evidence indicating both are dead and that Watkins is their alleged killer.

"We're confident we can go forward and prosecute," Robinson said, even if the bodies are never found.

She said the investigation is continuing and it is possible others could be charged in the case.

Court documents allege Watkins had suspected that Williams had burglarized his home on Dec. 19 and that his daughter had confronted Williams' girlfriend about that burglary, telling her that Williams "has got another thing coming."

Watkins' attorney, Carl Epstein, declined to comment Wednesday on the charges his client faces.

Kathy Parks-Winfrey, who is the mother of Watkins' 22-year-old son, said she doesn't believe the allegations against him.

"What they're accusing him of, that's not him. He's not the type of person who would kill anyone," she said.

A probable cause affidavit filed with the charges states that Williams' mother searched for him on Christmas morning. She eventually went to Watkins' home, about two blocks from her own, because she knew the teen "was having some trouble" with the people who lived there, it states.

She found "a large amount of blood" on the front steps of Watkins' home and in the grass and leaves in his yard and confronted Watkins, who said he knew nothing about the blood, according to the affidavit.