ANACONDA — The sister of De’Quan Watson described her brother as a loving and caring young man who certainly didn’t deserve the violent fate that took his life in his Anaconda home the morning of April 10, 2024.
“He was a family guy that was a good guy. A lot of people we talked to there loved him and they loved him for who he was,” said Shakita Watson.
De’Quan was killed by a single stab wound to the chest in his Cherry Street home, according to charging documents. His girlfriend, Leann Malcolm, is being held on deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence charges in connection with De’Quan's death.
Shakita was in her car in Illinois when the coroner called her.
“I remember just screaming, just screaming. I stopped screaming and I remembered I had two girls in the car, so I had to kind of put myself together for that,” said Watson.
She said De’Quan, seventh out of eight siblings, moved to Montana over a year ago. He was looking for a change after his young child from another relationship had died in a tragic accident.
“He said he decided, you know, ‘I want a new change, new area, new surroundings, new start.’ And that's how he ended in Montana with Leann and her family,” Shakita said.
De’Quan and Leann just had a baby together a few months before his death. Court documents allege Leann stabbed De’Quan in the home, but she allegedly gave investigators inconsistent statements about her reason for doing it.
Shakita said the crime is painful because she treated Leann like a sister.
“I just want to know why. What was the selfish act that led to this,” said Watson.
Shakita said her large family is still struggling with the loss of De’Quan.
“It’s still just a huge blow to such a big family that one of us is gone and it’s literally just a—literally a stab in the heart,” she said.
Malcolm’s trial is set for Sept. 30 and she remains jailed in Anaconda.
