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Florida man fatally shot half-brother in unincorporated Naperville on Christmas Day: prosecutors

By FOX 32 Digital Staff
Published  December 26, 2023 11:59am CST
Naperville
FOX 32 Chicago

UNINCORPORATED NAPERVILLE, Ill. - A Florida man has been charged with murdering his half-brother in a home in unincorporated Naperville on Christmas Day.

Shortly after 3 p.m., deputies with the DuPage County Sheriff's Office responded to a shooting at a home in the 25W0-100 block of Wood Court, according to a statement from prosecutors.

Inside the home, deputies located the victim, James Watson, with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.

Investigators later determined Watson was downstairs when he became upset that he couldn't find his cell phone, and slammed a card table on the floor.

Kendall Yarborough, 28. (DuPage County States Attorneys Office)

Watson's half-brother, 28-year-old Kendall Yarborough, was upstairs at the time and fired a gunshot down towards Watson, striking the man in the abdomen. After the shooting, family members called 9-1-1 and attempted to perform life-saving measures on Watson while they waited for authorities to arrive.

Yarborough remained at the home until authorities arrived, and was taken into custody without incident, the statement said. Officials later located a 9mm Sig Sauer P-365X pistol and a single spent 9mm bullet casing.

"On Christmas Day, James Watson lost his life after his half-brother, Kendall Yarborough allegedly shot him in the abdomen while James was looking for his cell phone," Berlin said in a statement. "This senseless act of violence will not go unpunished."

"It is horrible that a tragedy occurred on Christmas," DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said in a statement. "It goes to show that domestic violence can occur in any home and that’s why we take domestic related incidents seriously at the DuPage County Sheriff's Office."

Yarborough, of Palm Harbor, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors said. He made his first court appearance on Tuesday where he was ordered to remain in custody until Wednesday afternoon.