Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Watts was killed in an accident when his car collided with another car operated by a 50-year-old man who was critically injured. He was charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence.
Survivors
Deputy Watts had served with the Forrest County Sheriff's Office for 3 months and was survived by his two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MS-25DBD42D- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Watts served with the Forrest County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Hattiesburg community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Watts.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Johnnie B. Watts is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MS, 89 of 349 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25.5% of this state's fallen. That is 5.5 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Forrest County Sheriff's Office, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Johnnie B. Watts's cause is highlighted.
How Johnnie B. Watts Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Johnnie B. Watts is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Forrest County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
