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Woman allegedly shot, burned boyfriend: DA

By Sadef Ali Kully

The woman arrested for allegedly setting her boyfriend on fire was charged with murder Tuesday in Queens Criminal Court and her children faced counts as accomplices, the Queens district attorney said.

Police arrested Dawn McIntosh, 46, and her son, Donte Watkins, 21, from Astoria Monday

McIntosh was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ernest Hart on charges of murder, criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence and endangering the welfare of a child and Watkins was arraigned on a charge of tampering with physical evidence.

Police and the FDNY responded to an emergency call about a man on fire early Saturday morning in the rear of a house near 27th Avenue and 12th Street in Astoria.

Authorities said they found Shron McWhorter, 43, from Brooklyn unconscious and on fire.

The FDNY personnel extinguished the fire and emergency medical services pronounced the man dead at the scene.

After the fire was put out, police said they saw some trauma to the man’s left side of the chest and further investigation found the incident to be a homicide.

Mcintosh is also charged with enlisting her 15-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son Donte Watkins to help her dispose of the body.

According to the criminal complaint, McIntosh fatally shot McWhorter in the chest and torso sometime between 10 p.m. last Friday and 6:57 a.m. Saturday behind their home on 12th Street in Astoria.

Prosecutors allege that McIntosh lit McWhorter’s body on fire, disposed of the firearm she had used to shoot him, washed the bloody clothes she had been wearing at the time of the shooting, and moved his vehicle from the crime scene to the street.

According to the criminal complaint, McIntosh asked her children, including her 15-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son for assistance in disposing of the body.

Watkins is charged with attempting to lift the victim’s body into a dark-colored jeep at the request of his mother, the DA said.

“The defendant is accused of a particularly heinous crime in which she fatally shot her boyfriend and then tampered with evidence by, among other things, setting the deceased’s body on fire,” Queens DA Richard Brown said. “At the same time, it is alleged that she enlisted the aid of her teenage daughter and adult son in an attempt to cover up her involvement in the crime.”

If convicted, McIntosh, who was ordered held without bail, faces up to 25 years to life in prison and Watkins, who was ordered held on $5,000 bail, faces up to four years in prison.

Both McIntosh and Watkins were ordered to return to court on Sept. 15.

Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skully@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4546.