A 34-year-old convicted felon from Marion County has been arrested on aggravated battery and firearm possession charges, two years after he allegedly shot another man in his home.
Back on January 12, 2024, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a local residence after a female neighbor reported hearing two gunshots. The neighbor told the deputy that a male victim knocked on her door and alleged that he had been shot by Demaria Bantu Watts, according to the arrest report.
The deputy noted in the report that the victim sustained a gunshot wound to his “pelvic area.”
The neighbor advised that she looked out a window and saw Watts “standing in the doorway of his residence.” Watts then left the area in a vehicle prior to the arrival of law enforcement.
The deputy made contact with the victim, who advised that he had been invited to stay in Watts’ home several months earlier.
Shortly before the shooting, the victim advised that he was sleeping on a bed when Watts returned home. When Watts entered the residence, he allegedly told the victim to leave, and the victim responded by stating that he would “leave in the morning,” according to the report.
According to the victim’s statement, Watts pointed a firearm at the victim and fired two rounds. The report stated that one of those rounds struck the victim “in the pelvic area on the left side of his body.”
MCSO deputies were unable to locate Watts, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on January 22, 2024.
On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, a little over two years after the shooting incident, Watts was taken into custody and booked into Marion County Jail. His bond has been set at $20,000, and he is being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Watts is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, according to jail records.
A criminal history search of Watts revealed that he was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Marion County in May of 2007.