‘He’s not a monster,’ father says of Fort Worth man accused in road rage killing
One driver was alone, headed home early from her shift that began overnight. The other was with his cousin, headed to a job site.
In Jeffery Watson’s view, a Toyota Camry was moving too slow in the fast lane of West Loop 820, Fort Worth police said.
He got behind it, and the car’s 70-year-old driver hit her brakes. He drove past, and she flipped him off, he said.
Fueled by anger, Watson, 34, aimed his Glock handgun at Julia Gregor’s car, intending to shoot out her tires, he told detectives.
Instead, police allege, he shot the grandmother of three in the head.
Jeffery Watson’s father repeatedly cried Wednesday as he tried to describe his son.
“He’s not a monster,” Joe Watson said as he fought back tears in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He made a stupid mistake.”
Jeffery Watson was in custody and accused of killing Gregor. The married father of two children was booked Tuesday into jail on suspicion of murder.
“He told me he shot at the tire,” Joe Watson said. “And somehow the gun went off again and it went up. He kept apologizing over and over again.”
An arrest warrant affidavit written by Detective Thomas O’Brien describes this account of Watson and Gregor’s encounter on April 1:
About 11:45 a.m., Gregor was driving along the southbound lanes of West Loop 820, near Camp Bowie West Boulevard.
Jeffery Watson was traveling in the fast lane as was Gregor, but she was driving much slower, he told police. When he got behind her, she hit her brakes.
Jeffery Watson told a detective that upset him and as he drove past Gregor, she flipped him off. He drove in front of her and slammed on his brakes, causing both vehicles to stop in the fast line of the highway, he told police.
Gregor continued to flip him off, he said, and he pulled out his gun and attempted to shoot her tires, according to the warrant affidavit. Watson shot twice at the car but said he did not know if he had hit the vehicle. He left the highway and went to his job.
Gregor’s husband of 53 years suggested in an interview with the Star-Telegram that if Watson’s account is accurate, his wife had lost her life over a trivial matter.
“All I know is if I would’ve shot everybody who’s flipped me off, there would be quite a few dead people,” Ted Gregor said. “That’s no excuse to me.”
“That’s just his story. I really don’t know,” he said.
After she was shot, Gregor’s car crashed into a guardrail in the median. She died about 4 1/2 hours later at a hospital.
Jeffery Watson told police he did not realize his round had struck her until he read a news article on the shooting.
Immediately after that, he asked his cousin to hide his handgun in an attic.
After posting information about the crime on social media on Friday, homicide detectives received an anonymous tip on Monday that led them to Jeffery Watson, police said. The next day, detectives located the weapon.
Joe Watson, who lives in Wichita, Kansas, sobbed Wednesday as he talked about how Julia Gregor’s family must be devastated.
“It’s all been a nightmare for them,” Joe Watson told the Star-Telegram.
He said he wanted to pass along his condolences to the Gregor family and that his son also was remorseful.
“He’s never done anything like this,” Joe Watson said. “He didn’t drive down that road on the intent of killing her.”
Joe Watson said his son has bipolar disorder and takes medications to treat it.
“He has anger issues,” the father said. “That night before, he had grounded his son and he didn’t get much sleep. He was frustrated that day. He shouldn’t have been driving.”
Jeffery Watson was arrested in 2003 and accused of burglary and retaliation, according to Tarrant County criminal court records. Those charges were later dismissed.
In 2008, he was arrested and faced a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in what his father said involved another road rage incident.
“In 2003, his girlfriend wouldn’t let him in their home to see his son and he kicked the door open,” Joe Watson said. “That road rage in 2008 was when the other man came at him with a knife and he (Jeff) pulled out his gun, but that charge was dropped.”
In the last few years, Jeffery Watson had straightened out his life, raising a family and working a steady job in Fort Worth, his father said.
“He had even gone to check on his elderly neighbors,” Joe Watson said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gregor had worked for about 15 years at XPO Logistics as a supervisor dealing with failed electronics, her husband said. She usually worked from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m., but left early on April 1 and headed to her Benbrook home.
“I’m just — I’m glad he’s caught. I wouldn’t want another family to go through this,” Ted Gregor said.
A chaplain called to tell him of his wife’s condition, and Ted arrived at the hospital to find Julia on life support.
“I got to hold her hand,” he said.
Then she was gone.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 12:39 PM.
