Ben Watkins, who died at age 14, was preceded in death by his parents, Lelia Edwards and Michael Watkins, in a murder suicide in 2016.
FOX Ben Watkins, who died at age 14, was preceded in death by his parents, Lelia Edwards and Michael Watkins, in a murder suicide in 2016. MasterChef Junior star Ben Watkins died on November 16,2020 at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago after being diagnosed with an extremely rare tumor, according to TMZ. He was 14. Watkins, who appeared on Season 6 of the popular reality cooking competition show, was preceded in death by both of his parents. Tragically, three years ago, his mother, Leila Edwards was shot and killed by his father, Michael Watkins, who then turned the gun on himself, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. The murder-suicide took place in 2016. His mother was 43 and his father was 46. According to Ben’s maternal grandmother, Donna Edwards, and her younger brother, Anthony Edwards, they never figured out what caused Watkins to kill his wife before dying by suicide. GoFundMe‘MasterChef Jurnior’ contestant Ben Watkins pictured with his mother, Leila Edwards. Following Ben’s death, Edwards told the Kenosha News, “Our Ben went home to be with his mother Monday afternoon after a year-and-a-half battle with cancer… Ben was and will always be the strongest person we’ve known.” According to a GoFundMe campaign started by his “Grandma Donna and Uncle Anthony,” Ben was treated for angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma, a difficult-to-diagnose soft tissue tumor that typically occurs in children and young adults under the age of 30.
