By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A Jefferson County jury has sentenced Daniel “Parker” Watson, 31, of Pell City, to death for the 2023 murders of Tiffany Michele Hernandez and Jason Joseph Brown in Birmingham’s South East Lake neighborhood.
Jurors deliberated for about an hour Monday before voting 11-1 in favor of execution. Watson was convicted Friday of capital murder after a six-day trial before Circuit Judge Shanta Owens.
Prosecutors said Watson fatally shot Brown in the face and Hernandez in the back of the head inside his grandmother’s home on March 13, 2023. Watson then confessed to a Leeds police officer hours later, telling him where to find the bodies.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Roberts said, “The defendant murdered Jason Brown and Tiffany Hernandez without justification or excuse. Two head shots — one to the face, one to the back of the head. No question about intent. The intent was to kill.”
Defense attorneys argued Watson acted in the heat of passion while high on drugs, claiming he believed the victims had harmed his daughters. Authorities said there was no evidence to support that claim.
Watson still faces charges in St. Clair County for the subsequent shooting deaths of Amber Manning, 37, and Timothy Davidson, 62, in Ragland.