Over 40 people attended the Allisha Watts vigil for justice at the West Southern Pines Center on New York Avenue. Family, friends, community members, and religious leaders gathered Thursday to heal and honor Watts’ memory with hope, prayers, songs, and dance.
Allisah Watts. Courtesy photo.
James Dunmore, of Charlotte, her boyfriend, was arrested on a charge of murder in 2023 and is scheduled for court on Monday, March 18.
Friends and family said they were outraged over the autopsy report listing her cause of death as undetermined and that is one reason why they held the prayer vigil.
“She had bones missing. Her skull was ten feet from her body,” Diana Ingram said about the autopsy report and investigations, with one report listing 38 pounds of bones and another listing 63 pounds.
Diana Ingram speaks out for justice for the murder of Allisha Watts at the March 14, 2024, prayer vigil in Southern Pines. Photo by Stephanie M. Sellers/Sandhills Sentinel.
“We want the death penalty,” Ingram said about her frustration that coroners can find a body from 20 years ago and determine the cause of death but cannot determine the cause for Watts.
Watts, 39, from Foxfire, went missing after July 13, according to her friend, Ingram.
“I had lunch with her on July 13,” Ingram said about a report listing her as missing since July 1.
Throughout the summer months, when Watts was missing, several prayer vigils were held in the community.
Vigil supporters load a van on Aug. 8, 2023, at the West Southern Pines Center for a third vigil in Anson County for Allisha Watts/Video by Stephanie M. Sellers/Sandhills Sentinel.
Officials discovered Watts’ remains in Montgomery County in August 2023.
July 16 was the last sighting of Watts when she drove to Charlotte. Her car was found in Anson County, with her unconscious boyfriend inside.
“He tried to kill himself with pills,” Ingram said.
Watts’ remains had been buried off Cemetery Road on the Montgomery-Richmond County line.
Ingram said Watts was her friend, and they belonged to the West Southern Pines Community Association and the American Legion Post 177.
“I’m going to fight to the end for her,” Ingram said.
Feature photo: Friends and family gather at the Allisha Watts vigil for justice at the community center on New York Avenue in Southern Pines/Photo by Stephanie M. Sellers/Sandhills Sentinel.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College and Father Vincent Capodanno High School. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing, Sky’s River Stone, and GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean Stage Play with Translation.
