Cruise ship murder case: Family member speaks on victim

Get back here, local, and pick back up here with that story involving the MSC Seascape. That is the cruise ship that left out of Galveston and is the scene of a homicide investigation. And here's what we know so far. The 48-year-old suspect that is now in custody, his name is James Watford, and he is being charged here federally with murder in the death of his wife. Her name is Susan. Now, the attack, investigators say, happened on the cruise ship. We also now know there was a child involved as well, but that child was not injured. Today, our soccer great Susan Gray joining us now after speaking with the victim's family, specifically they're a foster sister. This has to be just incredibly sad for them. Yeah, imagine the family watching all of this unfold, hearing some of the details come out. Today I was able to speak with Brianna Chappell, who says she's Susan's foster sister. And she says that the most heartbreaking thing about this is that Susan was the mom to three children. She says the most difficult part for her to process right now is the fact that those three children will never feel Susan's hugs, hear her voice. They'll never be able to run into her arms, and likewise, Susan will never be able to see these children grow up to be the people that she dreamed they could become. Now, she did post a heartbreaking video on TikTok where she shared her emotions right now and also demanded for justice. Let's take a listen. My heart is completely shattered. Susan was not just my foster sister. That was my sister. She was taken by somebody that was supposed to... Love her, protect her, and keep her safe. Now three children are left without a mother. My forever older sister, I will not stop until justice is done. It's hard to say that this is a painful reminder of the struggles that so many women silently face behind closed doors, Anthony. Yeah, domestic violence is such a, it's a rampant issue in our community, you know. Speaking with the family a little bit more here. She says she wants to continue to fight for justice. I would imagine that hearing all these details has been difficult, but that might also be... The vehicle to help her continue to fight to find a solution here and get justice for her family. I mean, looking through those federal charging documents, even the average person reads those and you realize how graphic some of those details are. Hearing it as a family member, I can imagine you have a face and you're thinking about all of the emotions tied to this person. And the thing is too, this was not Jason Watford's first run in with the law. Oh, really? He actually does have some history here. We do know that he previously pled guilty to a 2024 domestic assault. So again, we're looking at history, we're looking at the full picture here. She actually shared in a statement very eloquently, she said, when calling out domestic violence, we need to stop asking victims why they didn't leave and start asking why someone felt entitled to hurt, control, threaten or take their life. Again, she said she's gonna continue to speak out. She's posted this video, a lot of people wanna know how the family is feeling right now and what they're gonna be doing moving forward. She says she's going to continue to demand justice as this. As this case moves through federal court. Incredibly sad, and then the child, so there was a child involved in this as well. Yeah, so if you think about it, I mean, she was in foster care. This was her foster sister that we're speaking to. And now her child is in foster care following this incident that was aboard the cruise ship. Authorities have told us the child is safe, but you have to imagine the residual consequences of this type of violence or witnessing this type of violence. And this guy Watford, he actually spoke to FBI investigators and how did he characterize the situation and what happened between him and his wife What was surprising there is that he waived his rights. He spoke to investigators and he disclosed very detailed what went on behind those closed doors. He explained that this attack went on for minutes. He strangled her, he hit her and when you hear details like that and you can imagine that a kid may have been close by, you have to wonder mentally how that's gonna affect that child moving forward. I certainly wish that child all the best. Thank you so much for that incredibly sad story, Sakura. We really hope this family gets the justice they are looking for because this is an incredibly sad development. All right, Sakura, thank you so much.