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Mother allegedly set deadly fire to claim insuranceSep 28, 2011 (Houston Chronicle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Houston woman accused with her husband of starting a house fire that killed the couple's 8-year-old daughter and a friend's teenage son was in "extreme financial distress" prosecutors said in opening arguments today. "She started that fire hoping to get some kind of financial relief," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Colleen Barnett told jurors. "And it got out of hand fast." Barnett said Sharon Watkins, 47, and husband David Watkins, 51, had 14 overdrafts from their dwindling bank accounts the month before the fire on May 17, 2003. There also was a small fire on the couple's doorstep two weeks before the massive blaze that killed Shanda Watkins and Raymond Farley Jr., a 16-year-old who considered the couple his godparents. "It was a little bit of a practice fire," Barnett said. She said evidence would include testimony from arson investigators and insurance adjusters. Defense lawyers for Watkins said the fire surprised the sleeping couple, and Sharon Watkins became disoriented from smoke inhalation as she tried to save Farley and her 8-year-old daughter. Attorney Tate Williams said jurors would see a video recorded walk-through of the home the day after the fire, showing nothing packed, cell phones still on bedside tables and medicine still in the cabinet. "It's a silent movie of a life interrupted," Williams said. The trial, in state District Judge Hazel Brown's court, is expected to last longer than a week. The husband and wife are charged with two counts of felony murder. Sharon Watkins is the first of the two to be tried. Felony murder is a charge that alleges a death occurred as a result of a felony, in this case, arson. [email protected] twitter.com/chron_rogers ___ (c)2011 the Houston Chronicle Visit the Houston Chronicle at www.chron.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |