Watkins is remembered for his kindness, love

Residents of Atmore and the surrounding areas are in mourning for a 10-year-old who was killed in a two-vehicle crash on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 24, on Highway 31 about 3 miles west of Atmore in Escambia County (Ala.).

Kendall B. Watkins was the passenger in the 2014 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Wanda T. Gibson, 40, of Atmore, who attempted to pass a 1986 Freightliner tractor-trailer driven by 50-year-old Jonathan T. Jeter, also of Atmore, according to an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency report.

The vehicles collided, which caused the Equinox to overturn and land in the roadway. Watkins was fatally injured and pronounced dead on the scene. Gibson and another 9-year-old passenger were transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment.

A fifth-grader who has attended Escambia County Middle School for the last two years, Watkins is remembered by Assistant Principal Heather Cook as a kind, friendly and well-liked student who was always willing to help his teachers and anyone who needed it.

"Kendall was one of the sweetest and kindest students we had," said Cook. "He was one of the kids who the teachers could get to stay in from P.E. or electives to help clean up, he would help anyone."

Cook said that when they had a new student come to school, she and a youth counselor at the school would introduce them to Watkins to make friends because he was so welcoming, friendly and warm to everyone.

She said Watkins was fun, had lots of friends and other kids loved to be around him.

"Academically, he was a very smart student," said Cook. "We never had any academic concerns about him. He always scored very high on all of our tests that we had."

She said the computer program at the school is an assessment program and Watkins always scored in the highest percentile, frequently received certificates for meeting benchmarks and goals.

"He enjoyed reading and did a lot with our librarian," said Cook. "He was just such a very sweet, kind-hearted child."

A Celebration of Life was held at 3 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday) at New Home United Pentecostal Church in Atmore.