Nigel Scott Alexander Batts, son of the Reverend Joseph Watkins, Jr. and Bettina Catherina Batts, was born February 11, 1998, in Sumter. He departed this life on Sunday, August 8, 2021 at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, Sumter. Nigel was taken in and raised by Mother Mary (Ballard) Ragins since the day he was born. She took him as her own and he loved her with all his heart. As a youth, Nigel grew up in the Kolb Road and Wedgefield Area of Sumter County. He was educated in the Sumter County Public School System. Nigel and his father joined Antioch U. M. E. Church, Rimini, when he was 15 years old. At the age of 16, Nigel went to stay with his father, Rev. Watkins and step-mother, Lakeanya Durant in the Dixie Drive Community of the City of Sumter. Nigel leaves to cherish memory: his father, Rev. Joseph (Lakeanya) Watkins, Jr., and mother, Bettina Catherine Batts; four sisters, Karima Ballard, Engracia Ballard, Arianna King, Alexus (Quincy) Lonnon-Addison; two brothers, Itica Batts and Josiah Elijah Watkins; maternal grandmother, Dorene Batts, and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and friends that will miss him dearly. In accordance with the COV19 guidelines, the family is requesting that face masks and social distancing be observed by relatives and friends during visitations at the home, 1105 Waterway Drive, Sumter. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 14, 2021 – 2:30 p. m. in the John Wesley Williams Sr. Memorial Chapel of Williams Funeral Home, Inc., 821 North Main Street, Sumter, with the Rev. Cheryl Gadson, presiding, Elder Barry Gadson, Eulogist. The procession will leave from the home at 1:50 p. m. Burial will be in the Brown Chapel U. M. E. Church Cemetery, Pinewood.
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