EULESS, Texas—A man wanted on charges of child sexual assault was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a home in Euless on Friday after Tarrant County deputies arrived to arrest him.
On September 19, deputies went to a residence in the 1200 block of Woodridge Circle to serve a warrant for Matthew Bruce Watson, 36. Watson was wanted on two counts of Sexual Assault of a Child.
According to authorities, Watson apparently shot himself in the head before deputies could enter the home. He was found deceased upon entry, and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner confirmed the cause of death as suicide.
Watson had been previously arrested and charged with the offenses on February 28.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the editor and esteemed readers of the Irving Journal,
The family of Matthew Watson requested publication of this letter to the editor after it came to our attention that the Irving Journal published, on 22 September, the following article: Euless Man Wanted for Child Sexual Assault Dies By Suicide During Arrest Attempt.
The family acknowledges that there is nothing factually inaccurate in the initial report published by the Journal, however, it also wishes to point out that, contrary to the colloquial expression, "the facts" almost never speak for themselves, and that layers of context and nuance known only to the family yield a drastically different interpretation than the headline of the report would seem to imply.
In writing this letter, the family is not making an emotionally driven protestation of Matthew's innocence. Despite the many failings of the Texas legal system, the family was still willing to abide by the verdict of a trial by jury of peers as the final determination of the case. That said, the family wishes to emphasize that Matthew's suicide should not be regarded as an admission of his guilt. Matthew’s suicide followed an arrest attempt over a minor bail violation, not, as the headline might suggest, an unwillingness to face justice for the crime of which he was accused.
The family believes that Matthew took his life out of fear of returning to Texas’s inhumane prison system and a belief that the accusation alone had already sealed his fate. While out on bail and preparing for trial, Matthew was demoralized by the stigma of the accusation, which prevented him from finding work despite his persistent efforts. Even if he had been acquitted or the charges had been dropped, he believed that the prospects for his life had already been predetermined and foreclosed by the mere accusation of the crime for which he was charged.
To be clear, the family does not deny that the crimes for which Matthew was charged were serious; however, as the evidentiary phase of the trial made clear, the crimes he was accused of, while still completely unacceptable if proven, were far less heinous than his initial arrest record made them out to be. Accordingly, the family bears no ill will toward the accuser, and would have been deeply regretful and apologetic if the charges had been proven. However, the family wishes to emphasize that the very nature of the accusation itself, in many ways, precluded a fair trial, depriving Matthew of the fundamental presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
The family of Matthew Watson thanks the Irving Journal for publishing this letter to the editor.
