ASHLEY WATROUS - 10 yo (2009) - Oak Point/Denton County TX

A 10-year-old Denton County girl was shot in the face Christmas Eve night and died on a dining room table, authorities said. Her father was taken into custody early Christmas morning, a Denton County official said Friday.The
girl, identified as Ashley Watrous, was pronounced dead at her home in
the 500 block of Naylor Road in Oak Point, which is in Denton County on
the shore of Lake Lewisville."The brother of the victim called
authorities and said she had been shot by her father," said Tom Reedy,
a spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff’s Department.Authorities did not provide any other details of the shooting.Oak
Point police and Texas Ranger Tracy Murphee are investigating the case,
and the Sheriff’s Department provided a crime scene team, Reedy said.

Authorities
identified Ashley’s father as Duke Lawrence Watrous, 36, who was booked
into the Denton County Jail about 3 a.m. Friday.Watrous remained in jail with bail set at $200,000.According
to Denton County criminal court records, Watrous has an injury to a
child charge pending against him. He was booked into the Denton County
Jail on that charge April 1 and was released on bail the next day,
records show.

The Oak Point
man accused of fatally shooting his 10-year-old daughter on Christmas
Eve had been investigated repeatedly by Child Protective Services, and
police believe he was probably drunk when he fired the shot, according
to officials and court records. "I could smell ...
[alcohol] on him, and his actions indicated to me that he was
intoxicated," said Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree, who is investigating
the shooting with Oak Point police. "There's nothing right now to
indicate that it was an intentional homicide, but the investigation is
still ongoing." Duke Lawrence Watrous, 36, remained
jailed Tuesday on charges of manslaughter, criminal negligence and
tampering with evidence. Bail was set at $200,000. One of five children
Ashley Watrous was one of Watrous' five children, and one of three who
lived with him at his Oak Point home, according to court records and
police officials. Watrous and Ashley's mother –
identified in court records as Brandy Michelle Washburn-Rives, 29 –
have been investigated on allegations of child abuse and neglect in
Texas and Oklahoma since 2003, according to records filed Monday in a
Denton County court by the Texas Department of Family and Protective
Services, which includes CPS. The other two children
living with Watrous – a 9-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl – are now in
foster care, and CPS officials have asked for a court hearing to decide
their long-term custody, court records show. That hearing is set for
Jan. 7 in 158th District Court in Denton. "The department
determined at this time that ... [the two surviving siblings] are in
immediate and continuing danger if they are in the care of Duke Watrous
or Brandy Washburn," CPS caseworker Michelle Hiza said in an affidavit.
Watrous has declined all media requests to talk about the
case, said Tom Reedy, a spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff's
Office. Washburn-Rives could not be reached for comment. Earlier abuse case
CPS determined in March that Watrous had abused a child from a previous
relationship who lived with his mother but visited him regularly,
according to court records. It was unclear whether the agency tried to
remove Ashley and her siblings at the time. Watrous was
arrested in April on a charge of injury to a child, but a grand jury
declined to indict him in June, according to Denton County court
records. CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said she was
unaware of any attempts by the agency to remove the children from
Watrous' home after the March investigation. "In some
cases, if you don't have an outcry of abuse from the other children in
the home and ... they appear to be in good condition, you won't
necessarily have a legal basis to remove them from the home based on an
injury suffered by another child in the home," Gonzales said. Police say
Watrous was recklessly handling a revolver Thursday night at
his Oak Point home when it discharged, hitting Ashley in the face and
killing her. Her 9-year-old brother and 1-year-old sister were present
when the shooting occurred, authorities say. Watrous was jailed Friday
on the manslaughter charge, and authorities
added the negligence and tampering charges Tuesday. The negligence
charge was filed because one of Ashley's siblings was "very close" to
the gun when it went off. Watrous then tampered with
evidence by moving the gun from the crime scene and locking it in a gun
safe, Murphree said. Police later secured a search warrant and removed
guns from the home, he said. Court records paint a disturbing picture of
a family racked by conflict and allegations of abuse. A judge limited
Washburn-Rives' custody of the children after a 2003
investigation found she had abused them, CPS caseworker Hiza said in an
affidavit filed Monday. CPS investigators found that
Washburn-Rives had emotionally abused Ashley and neglected Ashley and
her brother, according to the affidavit. The caseworker
described Watrous and Washburn-Rives' relationship as turbulent and
said each has accused the other of abusing the children. 'Mind control'
Washburn-Rives told the caseworker she was at Watrous' home hours
before Thursday's shooting and saw him drinking beer, according to the
affidavit. Washburn-Rives admitted knowing that Watrous kept guns in
the house, had an alcohol problem and became aggressive when he drank,
Hiza said in the affidavit. Washburn-Rives said Watrous
had "mind control" over her that made her unable to make decisions
about the children, according to the affidavit. She also said Watrous
abused her, and she recounted a time when he choked her to the point
that she "saw stars," the affidavit says. Watrous' two
children from a prior marriage are believed to be living with their
mother, identified in court records as Aude Freeman. Her husband, Allen
Freeman, said she would not comment on the shooting. "We've decided
that the best thing to do is to let everything be played
out in the court system instead of in the newspaper," he said.
Aude Freeman also accused Watrous of abuse in court records related to
their 2007 divorce and subsequent custody battle. In an affidavit filed
in March, she accused Watrous of abusing several of his children,
including Ashley and their 7-year-old son.

Dad Guilty in Daughter's Christmas Eve Killing

Duke Watrous Faces 20 Years in Prison


Published : Tuesday, 12 Apr 2011, 10:36 AM
DENTON, Texas - A Dallas-area man who
allegedly had been drinking before he fatally shot his 10-year-old
daughter has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The penalty phase was scheduled Tuesday in Denton for Duke Watrous. He reached the plea agreement before jury selection was to begin Monday. Watrous faces up to 20 years in prison for the Christmas Eve 2009 fatal shooting of his daughter , Ashley, who was shot in the face. The Denton Record-Chronicle reports the victim's 9-year-old brother telephoned for help. The boy told Oak Point police and other law officers that his father was intoxicated and playing with a "cowboy gun." A Texas Ranger who helped investigate the death said he smelled alcohol on the father. A trail of blood led to a weapons safe, where officers recovered a revolver and a shotgun.


Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/041211-Dad-Guilty-in-Daughters-Christmas-Eve-Killing#ixzz1JRvvL7an

Poster's Note: As the accused has plead guilty, I will share this PM i received from a guest regarding this case. All statements made have not been verified and any inaccuracies and opinions are solely the responsibility of the writer. I warn you regarding graphic material

I have more to add to this story:
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_Watrous_trial_0413.27b34d58a.html

The night before the shooting Duke, his brothers & the kids stayed up until 4 AM playing games.

The
kiddos fell asleep for a nap Christmas eve afternoon. Upon waking, they
told their dad they were hungry and wanted something to eat.

Duke
wanted to put on a gun show. Duke is seen in the video taunting of
Ashley with a loaded 12 gauge shot gun rubbing it on her arm, poking her
in the chest, rubbing her face - see above article. He unloaded the
shot gun and tried to give it to Ashley. She moved away and refused to
take it. She was obviously scared, her hands behind her back nervously
wringing them. It was clear she wanted to leave the room, but was under
Duke's control.

He put the shot gun down & picked up the .44
magnum Ruger. Later the 9 yr. old boy told investigators Ashley "had her
scared face on."

Duke fiddled with the gun, it fired striking
Ashley in the face blowing her back. Duke dropped the gun, picked Ashley
up like a rag doll & placed her on the cluttered dining table. He
didn't check her condition or even turn her head so that she wouldn't
choke on her blood.

Instead, he dashed for the guns slipping in
her pool of blood where she had previously stood. He grabbed the guns
& was gone for some time. He came back to her and then left again to
get towels to clean up the blood. He refused to cooperate with 911
saying he was rendering aid - rather he was trying to cover his crime.

The boy was reeling, pacing, shaking his hands, crying, asking Ashley not to leave him.

Forget trying to render aid to his victim, for Duke it was about saving his own hide.

He
asked the 9 yr. old boy to put a towel over the brain matter on the
floor before cops came. He wouldn't cooperate with cops when they
arrived either.

His brothers left him a couple of hours before
the shooting - he either wasn't all that drunk or they were too
plastered to notice he was & are also responsible for leaving him to
care for children.

Duke had a 1 year old in the house too was
reported earlier. He had another loaded gun on another table. If he was
so drunk, why would he be so occupied with trying to save his own
domestically violent behind?

The sad thing is the ex-wife tried
to tell CPS what Duke was really like with Ashley & other children -
she was looked upon as the "bitter" ex-wife instead of the child being
rescued from her death trap.

Duke offered the boy to trade the
loaded .44 magnum for one of his Christmas toys hours before the
shooting. This guy is a monster & alcohol is not an excuse for
terrorizing & killing a child. I think Duke being drunk hours after
the shooting was an "act" to avoid being held responsible. I don't
believe this liar for a minute. His actions speak volumes.

Within days of the shooting he transferred his successful business www.MoveCo.net
to his brother - it's now an LLC under his brothers name. Sheltering
assets? Was he planning to run? He can afford a nice defense fund,
forget supporting the other remaining children, it's all about Duke. He
even hired a high profile jury consultant firm to pull out all the stops
in his defense.

Yeah, when it comes to saving Duke's behind -
he'll spare no expense, he'll take 100% interest - he'll give it 150% -
he doesn't drink - supposedly. But when it comes to children? Oh,
they're dispensable for his enjoyment of seeing someone terrified. The
boy said Ashley had her "scared" face on. Ummmm doesn't that tell you
she was scared so often that her expression had a name?

Duke bragged to his ex-wife & girlfriend that he had a concealed hand gun license. He had been trained in gun safety.

Duke also attended a "For Kids Sake" program during his divorce & custody battle.

Thanks
for this site - it's so important that these victims be honored. They
deserve our thoughts, prayers & love like no others.

God bless the children & may we find a way to keep them safe & protect them when we learn of their abuse - so sad.

I bolded the last two sentences because they are so very important and critical to why we do what we do...