Andre Watkins pleads guilty to killing woman, wounding two others during 2010 rampage

TAMPA - A man accused of murdering a woman and shooting two others admitted his guilt in a Tampa courtroom Thursday.

Judge Kimberly Fernandez immediately sentenced Andre Watkins to life in prison.

The rampage began on February 11, 2010 when Watkins, who was 53 at the time, hijacked a pickup truck at a convenience store and forced the driver to take him to a home on Chadbourne Drive near Plantation Boulevard.

He opened fire on a vehicle at that address.  Two people inside the car ran away, but 19-year-old Alyssa Marie Aracich was not able to escape and was killed.

Watkins then made the driver of the pickup take him to a convenience store where he got into another vehicle and drove to his mother's home where he got into yet another car.

He then drove to a home on Brightside Drive where he shot and wounded Areil Love.

Watkins continued on to a BP station at Anderson Road and Linebaugh where he shot and wounded the clerk, Akbar Alwani.

He then drove to a home on Briar Grove where he shot at Bruce Jackson, who managed to escape unharmed.

Deputies eventually surrounded and captured Watkins at a Plant City gas station in the early morning hours of February 12.

Prior to the shootings, Watkins had a lengthy record, including assault on a pregnant woman and battery.