Alexa Jurado, Payton Titus
·4 min read
A confrontation early Saturday morning that led to the arrest of South Carolina women’s basketball player Ashlyn Watkins began with an argument between Watkins and the victim, according to a police incident report released to The State on Tuesday.
The report offers more details about the confrontation at 650 Lincoln St., a USC housing and retail center, that ended with Watkins being charged with assault and kidnapping. Some information, including the victim’s name and witnesses, is redacted. As a result, some sections of the report are unclear.
A USC police officer responded to 650 Lincoln St. just before 3 a.m. for a fire alarm and saw a group of individuals running toward the parking garage. The officer also heard “someone screaming for help,” according to the report. The officer saw a person leaning over the ledge on the third level of the garage yelling for help, and another person holding her back.
The victim was “visibly upset,” according to the report. She told police she had gotten into an argument with Watkins, 20, and was “attempting to get away from her.”
The victim said she had driven to 650 Lincoln to see her “best friend” and pointed to Watkins. Later the victim was on the second floor helping a sick friend, she told police.
Watkins returned and confronted her because she believed the victim was “cheating on her,” the victim told police.
While the victim initially told police several times that Watkins hit her, she later said that Watkins did not hit her, according to the report.
Watkins told police she went looking for the victim — whom she described to police as her “girlfriend” — on the second floor to take her to her car on the fourth floor.
According to the police report, Watkins admitted to “grabbing her” and walking outside. The two then returned to Watkins’ room to let out her dog. While letting out her dog, Watkins said the victim began to run through the parking garage and lifted herself up onto the ledge. Watkins told police she “wrapped both arms around” the victim because she believed she was going to jump off.
EMS and police spoke to all parties and determined the victim was not suicidal, according to the police report.
Police tried to call the parents of the victim, who was described in the report as “a juvenile,” but were unsuccessful. A Lexington County Sheriff’s deputy was sent to their residence and reached her mother.
Watkins was charged with first degree assault and kidnapping after the incident, according to arrest warrants released Saturday.
Warrants said Watkins assaulted the victim by “forcefully grabbing her face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her.” She also allegedly picked the victim up against her will and carried her away, grabbed her head and forced her to walk down the hall and prevented her from leaving.
The warrant also said the victim eventually got away from Watkins and pulled the fire alarm. Police and fire personnel responded and treated the victim for her injuries, which were not life-threatening.
Watkins was granted a $30,000 personal recognizance bond, on the condition that she has no contact with the victim and stays 1,000 yards away from the victim’s home, work, school and place of worship, according to online court records. Another listed condition is “Permission to travel out of state for games and practice.”
“We believe once everybody has a full grasp of what happened, this will end up being a misunderstanding,” Watkins’ attorney, state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, told WLTX on Saturday. “What we know for certain is that Ashlyn did not assault anyone, and she did not kidnap anyone.”
The State has been unable to reach Rutherford.
Online court records say an initial court appearance for Watkins has been set for Oct. 25, 10 days before USC’s 2024-25 season opener against Michigan in Las Vegas on Nov. 4.
A spokesperson for the women’s basketball team told The State they are aware of the situation and continuing to gather information. University officials declined to comment on the incident.
It’s likely Watkins’ arrest will result in an automatic suspension, as has been the case with previous USC student-athlete arrests.
Watkins was a member of South Carolina’s 2024 national championship team. She is a 6-foot-3 forward and the Gameco*cks’ most highly rated defensive player. Watkins attended Cardinal Newman for high school, where she won the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award in 2022. She also won the McDonald’s All-American dunk contest that year.
