"John" HAWKINS - 17 yo - Accused: Travis Hawkins -Mobile AL

Father arrested for shooting teen son

Tuesday, 11 Jan 2011
MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - Mobile Police said a
father is behind bars with no bond after being charged with first
degree domestic violence. Authorities said the man shot his son Monday
night. Several police cars were stationed outside of a home on Bourgeois Circle. "We
heard shots fired. A couple of them. We jumped up and walked outside
and heard screaming from down the street then I called police and told
them what was going on. Then we heard a few more shots fired," a
neighbor who didn't want to be identified said. The neighbor
called authorities out of concern. Police said it was a good thing she
did, because an argument between a father and son quickly escalated. "The 17-year-old juvenile and his father were arguing. It started inside in the house," Officer Christopher Levy said. Police said the father, Travis Hawkins then got a 9mm gun and started shooting. "He
fired one shot at the floor of the inside of the house. The argument
then went outside. He discharged the second time in the air and then
actually after a third shot, then shot his son in the chest. When they
were outside, the son appears to have tried to take the gun away from
the dad when he shot him in the chest," Levy added. "It doesn't take much for him to snap and go off," the neighbor added. Police
said the argument should have never escalated to gunfire, and what
happened there wasn't the first crime Hawkins was accused of. "What we know about him is he actually has a history of domestic violence involving his children," Levy said. Hawkins
has a long arrest history dating back to the 90's including drug
charges and reckless endangerment. Police said after the shooting,
Hawkins left the scene and his wounded son before police arrived. But
hours later they said he called 911 to turn himself in. "For a father to do this to a child is unreal. I could not imagine. I think it's a sad situation," the neighbor added. While officials try to figure out what led up to the shooting, neighbors are hoping the teen has a speedy recovery. "We're
praying for him. We're praying for the whole family because it's
affected everybody in that family and the whole neighborhood," said the
neighbor. Police said the 17-year-old boy was taken to USA Medical Center. He underwent surgery and is expected to be okay.
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/mobile_county/father-arrested-for-shooting-teen-son

Father has history of domestic violence



Updated: Friday, 04 Feb 2011


MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - A Mobile man accused of shooting his son is out on bond. The suspect who was charged with first degree domestic violence has a long criminal history. FOX10 News has also learned that authorities believe he was under the influence at the time of the shooting.
Authorities say Travis Hawkins shot his 17-year-old son in the chest during an argument at their home on Bourgeois Circle. District Attorney Ashley Rich said Hawkins is out on bond for the felony charge because of very specific reasons.
"The only case where they can hold a criminal defendant in jail without a bond is on a capital murder case or if the defendant had previously been on bond when he committed a new offense and he was not on bond when he committed this new offense," explained Rich.
However, Hawkins' bond does have stipulations.
"The judge issued a bond of $50,000 with no contact to the family member that had been shot," Rich said.
Neighbors felt like that was a good thing because of Hawkins' history.
"He does have an extensive history of substance abuse charges as well as alcohol related charges. He also has one prior offense which was an attempted murder. However that was in 2000 and the state could not go forward because the only witness was his wife and she refused to testify against him, so we were not able to go forward with the charges in that case," added Rich.
FOX10 News asked Rich who the attempted murder was on?
"Another family member. I'm not sure what family member it was, I think it was his own child but I'm not sure," Rich said.
Fortunately, the 17-year-old involved in the shooting is expected to make a full recovery and Rich said she will make sure to get justice.
"We will do everything in our power to make sure he is fully prosecuted so that we can get him under control. There appears to be some type of substance abuse problem and we will look into that and make sure that any plea negotiations will include some time to treatment for that," said Rich.
Hawkins has a preliminary hearing set for February 9 in district court.

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/crime/father-has-history-of-domestic-violence