Before Susan Watford, 31, boarded the MSC Seascape last Sunday for a weeklong cruise departing Galveston, Texas, her adoptive mother, Dorothy Mast, pleaded with her not to go.
“I had asked her not to go,” Mast told KPRC on Wednesday, two days after Watford’s husband, Jason Watford, was charged with murder for allegedly strangling her inside their cabin while their young daughter was present, according to court documents.
Watford knew her husband had a history of abuse. He had been convicted in 2024 of assaulting her. But she chose to go anyway, telling her mother she believed the marriage could be salvaged because Jason Watford had completed every condition the court had imposed on him.
“As she told me, ‘Mama, he did everything the court said he had to do,'” Mast said. “He took his anger management classes. He did his counseling. He did his community service.”
According to reporting from KPRC, Watford also understood that if the trip didn’t restore the relationship, it would likely mean the end of her marriage.
Mast said she tried reaching her daughter by phone after the ship left port. “I tried calling her,” she said. “She didn’t answer. So I figured, well, you know, she’s busy.” It has since become clear the call came after Watford had already been killed.
A life built after leaving home young
Mast remembered Watford, who left an Amish community at age 15, as a curious and devoted daughter. “She was a great daughter and liked to learn,” Mast told KPRC.
Watford had worked at Target since 2019, starting as a warehouse associate before working her way up. Between 2021 and 2024 she studied business at Colorado Technical University, graduating summa cum laude. In May 2024 she became a Target warehouse team lead, a position she held until her death, according to her LinkedIn profile.
A family member, who was not named, told ABC News that Watford was “funny” and “the best mom” to her children, as well as someone “responsible” who was working to support her family while finishing her degree.
How the killing came to light
Watford’s body was discovered Tuesday, two days after she was killed aboard the ship, which had been sailing around Honduras and Mexico. Court documents describe multiple “facial injuries.”
A housekeeper delivering towels first spotted what appeared to be blood on Jason Watford’s clothing and raised the alarm Sunday night. The ship’s captain was notified, and the vessel returned to Galveston, where Jason Watford was arrested early Monday.
According to the documents, Jason Watford told FBI investigators that an argument caused him to “snap,” and he struck his wife multiple times, leaving her mouth bloodied. He then choked her with both hands, wrapping his right arm around her neck and applying pressure “for approximately four to five minutes” before releasing his hold “after becoming exhausted,” the documents state.
The documents say Jason Watford did not contact ship security or medical personnel even as his wife lay motionless in the cabin, and was later seen scrolling on his cellphone after the killing.
Jason Watford did not enter a plea at a court hearing Tuesday and remains in federal custody.
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