Background: A section of the 200 block of North Main Street in Butler, Pa. (Google Maps). Inset: Cavell Watkins (Butler County Prison).
Pizza shop owners in Pennsylvania were apparently shocked to learn that a man who lived in an apartment upstairs in the building had allegedly crammed his friend into a garbage bin and left the body there.
Cavell Watkins, 64, has been charged with misdemeanor abuse of a corpse, as well as felony manufacturing, delivering, or possession of a controlled substance with intent, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. He is being held in the Butler County Prison after being unable to post bail.
On Monday, officers with the Butler City Police Department were called to an apartment on the 200 block of North Main Street in Butler, Pennsylvania. The city lies some 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
The officers were greeted by Watkins — otherwise known as "J.J." — who let them inside, per court records obtained by regional NBC affiliate WPXI. As police searched the residence, they found a large trash can in the kitchen with a cologne bottle sitting on top.
The investigators reportedly opened the bin to find a man's body inside. The body was "folded at the waist" and covered with blankets and pillows.
Watkins allegedly told law enforcement that he, a woman, and the victim — whose identity is unclear — were using crack cocaine together before Watkins and the woman left the apartment. They apparently returned to find the victim unresponsive.
The defendant further told investigators that he covered the body with a sheet before putting it in the trash can, the court records stated. He apparently also said that he believed the victim overdosed, and he hid the body because he was afraid.
Neighbors and those in the area found such a sequence of events bizarre.
"Kind of shocked, you know?" said Jeff Eberhardt, whose wife owns Pizza Joe's, which operates underneath the apartment. "It's kind of crazy," he added to local ABC affiliate WTAE, describing how he saw officers remove a "large garbage can" from the back of the residence.
"You would get in less trouble, in my opinion, if you, initially, be respectful and call the police," another neighbor said.
Watkins was arraigned in court on Monday night. He is set to return for a preliminary hearing on July 13.