Bluefield Attack Victim Offers Hope and Inspiration - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

It's been more than a month since tragedy hit a Mercer County family.

In October, Donald Adams confessed to killing 79 year old John Douglas Watkins and assaulting and shooting his wife, Monica Watkins.

Police say Adams told them he was looking for money so he could buy crack cocaine.

A day after he was arrested, Adams was found hanging in the holding facility at the Bluefield Police Department from an apparent suicide.

"He came in and said I'm going to kill you and I'm going to rob you. I'm on drugs," she said.

Monika Watkins describes the horrific night her life was changed forever.

"The guy shot me right here. I could hear the bullet going down in my ear. It lodged somewhere down this way. And then after he shot me right here, it made me go down on my hands and knees. Then there was a struggle back there in the kitchen. Then he cut my throat, right here, missing the jugular vain by the grace of the good Lord. Then he beat me in the head with a conch shell and left me laying on the floor for dead," she said.

Monika and her husband were good to their neighbor. Although she says he was on drugs occasionally, they never expected him to be a killer.

"I would expect him to demand large amounts of money from us. But not to the extent of shooting and trying to kill you," said Watkins.

Monika survived the attack by Donald Adams. But her husband did not.

She misses her husband very much and believes she carries his spirit with her everyday.

"He's with me, I feel it all the time. If I go out somewhere, he goes too."

Mrs. Watkins gives advice for anyone in the situation of a break-in.

"If you got an uneasy hunch about something, try to call for help if you can. Try to call for help," she states.

Mrs. Watkins shares how she is able to move on and how thankful she is to be alive today.

I asked her, "If the culprit was in front of you right now, would you be able to forgive him?"

"It would be hard to do but in order to keep burdens and bad feelings off of myself, I would turn it into the hands of the Lord. I hope my testimony will help someone else, I thank the Lord for sparing my life."