NEW HAVEN, Conn — Federal and state law enforcement authorities have taken a suspect in a Waterbury murder into custody Tuesday morning.
The U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force said they arrested in Waterbury a man wanted in Connecticut on a 2023 murder charge and also wanted in West Virginia on a federal indictment in reference to a DEA investigation.
Tyjha Ali Watson, 29, of Charleston, West Virginia, was arrested at 8:30 a.m. at a residence on Ash Street in Waterbury.
Watson faces state charges in Connecticut for murder, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of a weapon, reckless endangerment in the first degree, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, and illegal discharge of a weapon stemming from an incident June 15, 2023, when Watson allegedly shot into an apartment building in Waterbury, striking a 49-year-old woman in the head. The victim, identified later as Beck Switzer, was transported to a local hospital but succumbed to her injuries five days after the shooting.
Officials had asked for the public’s assistance in locating Watson in February 2023. Watson was wanted on a federal indictment out of West Virginia for a DEA investigation into a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Bloods and Gangster Disciples criminal gangs. Watson had been on the run since February 2021. Twelve other defendants were charged in this investigation. All defendants charged in the original indictment have been apprehended.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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