Suspect Arrested in Murder of Compton Grocer

A Compton man has been arrested as the prime suspect in the clubbing death last week of a popular grocer who founded a Baptist church next door to his Alondra Boulevard market, police said Monday.

Compton Police Detective Walter Nelson said Leon Watts, 19, who was booked on suspicion of murder, and a second man--still at large--were allegedly seen entering the grocery store owned by Eddie Warren Adams, 60, shortly after 6:30 p.m. last Tuesday.

Shortly afterward, Adams’ wife, Barbara, became concerned when the store’s phone went unanswered, she said.

A stepson and police officers entered and found Adams’ body in the aisle of the A & A Meat Co. store. He had been hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. His assailants were unable to escape with the store’s locked cash register, police said.

Watts, who was arrested without incident Sunday night, apparently knew Adams, but no motive for the murder has been established, Nelson said. In addition to the witnesses, there is other evidence linking Watts to the murder, but Nelson declined to say more about it.

The suspect was in custody at the county jail in lieu of $300,000 bail, Nelson said.

Adams’ store has been a fixture in the area near Compton High School for more than 20 years, and his death shocked friends and neighbors. He ran unsuccessfully for the Compton City Council and the city school board, extended credit for groceries to those who could not pay immediately and founded the Plain Truth Missionary Baptist Church in a home he owned next door to the grocery store. The church observed its first anniversary on Sunday.

Services for Adams will be held today at 10 a.m. at the Double Rock Baptist Church, 1900 W. Alondra Blvd., Compton, with interment to follow at Inglewood Park Cemetery, a family member said.