Worker at Scott Co. Jail charged

SIKESTON, Mo. -- An employee at the Scott County Jail was charged this week with two counts of attempting to tamper with a witness.

Sarina R. Watkins, 29, of Sikeston was arrested Monday. She is out on a $10,000 bond.

According to the probable-cause statement and chief deputy Tom Beardslee, Watkins tried to influence witnesses in a case involving a jail inmate she had a relationship with.

Beardslee said he did not know how long the relationship had been going on or whether Watkins knew the inmate, Christopher Garcia, before his incarceration at the jail.

A Scott County Sheriff's Department investigator said in the probable-cause statement he was investigating a report of contraband in the jail when he searched Watkins' lunch container March 1, uncovering letters written to the witnesses offering money if they signed and notarized letters stating they falsely implicated Garcia and that they did not want to testify against him. Garcia allegedly signed those letters, the report said.

When signed by the witnesses, the letters would have been sent to the Scott County prosecutor and Garcia's defense attorney, according to the probable-cause statement.

Garcia, 33, of Charleston, Mo., has been in the Scott County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond since July, Beardslee said. He is charged with two counts of first-degree burglary, four counts of first-degree armed criminal action and two counts of first-degree assault. All are felonies.

carel@semissourian.com

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