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Dashawn Dale Depree Watkins, 29 of Sharon, is in the Mercer County Prison after bloody clothes and surveillance videos linked him to the brutal dismembering of 14-year-old Pauly Likens, the Pennsylvania State Police explained in a press release and court documents.
Likens was reported missing by "his" father (who does not acknowledge his son's transition to become a girl, the police explained in the affidavit) on June 22, 2024. The police interviewed Likens's friends who noted "she" (as the friends referred to Likens) had stopped posting on Snapchat saying something about going on a walk to clear her mind. Officers soon traced the teen's cellphone to where the GPS last pinged off the tower in Sharon near Budd Street the morning of June 23 — some of her body parts were found in the Shenango River Reservoir by the Golden Run Wildlife area near the Budd Street underpass around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Jun 25, according to the Mercer County Coroner's Office.
Watkins allegedly met Likens through Grindr and "had sex" on June 23, according to the affidavit. The accused killer explained that they met at the river then, after the encounter in his apartment, the teen joined him again at a canoe launch to hunt for reptiles. In an interview with investigators on July 2, he told them that the blood on his clothes was from a cut to his hand from a piece of metal used to collect a reptile, two stitches were observed by the state police, according to the affidavit.
But video footage showed Watkins exiting his apartment multiple times with bags while wearing the bloody clothes and going to the area where Likens body parts were later found, as detailed in the affidavit.
Watkins also told the police that he has a bad memory and doesn't remember much from that night, as explained in the affidavit.
The Mercer County Coroner has set out for a DNA match for the blood found at the river and to that found on Watkins and in his apartment to the body, but "determined through forensic comparison and evaluation that the remains discovered were during the course of the recovery effort are that of a missing juveniles [Pauly Likens]," as stated in a release.
The cause of death is "sharp force trauma to the head in a manner ruled homicide," the coroner's office stated.
He was arrested and charged with the following on July 3, according to court documents:
- Homicide Murder of the First Degree.
- Felony Aggravated Assault- Attempts to Cause Serious Bodily Injury Or Causes Injury with Extreme Indifference.
- Misdemeanor Abuse of a Corpse.
- MIsdemeanor Tamper with or Fabricate Physical Evidence.
He was denied bail according to state law on homicide charges. His preliminary hearing is scheduled before Magisterial District Judge Travis P. Martwinski at 10 a.m. on July 25, according to his court docket.
The LGBTQ+ community has spoken out, saying Watkins should also be charged with a hate crime.
Governor Shapiro posted about this on Facebook:
"The First Lady and I are thinking of Pauly Likens' friends, family, and our entire LGBTQ+ community right now. PA State Police's investigation is ongoing and her horrific murder must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.It’s past time to strengthen Pennsylvania’s laws to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated. Send the bill to my desk, and I will sign it."
Some community members are upset that Likens was on Grindr, as the app's terms of service state that users, must be over 18. Likens has a history of ignoring those sorts of rules, as Likens's first public Facebook account was created in 2018 when Likens was 8-years-old — according to Facebook's Help Center users must be at least 13 years old to have an account.
Other trans-LGBTQ+ people took to social media, claiming apps like Grindr are the only way to meet other trans people. One user wrote: "youth have no other ways of finding community."
A candlelight vigil for Likens is scheduled for 7 p.m. on July 13 at 87 Stambaugh Avenue in Sharon in the lower level at the LGBTQ+ Alliance of Shenango Valley.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help cover the burial costs. Click here to donate.
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