A Pennsylvania man will spend the next many years, if not decades, in prison after brutally beating his mother to death.
Erik Watkins, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal murder. Pennsylvania is one of just three states that still have a third-degree murder statute.
The plea follows several years of legal struggle. The defendant was initially very open about what he had done to his mother but pled not guilty. Watkins was sentenced to 15-40 years in jail on Tuesday, immediately following his change of plea.
The incident took place on December 13, 2020, in a home on Maffett Street in Sugar Notch, a small borough and southern suburb of Wilkes-Barre.
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Around 2 a.m. on the night in question, Pennsylvania State Police troopers responded to a domestic argument. Patricia Watkins, 60, was discovered dead at the scene of the crime.
The woman was battered to death and discovered in a bathtub, with many injuries, including shattered bones in her face, neck, and ribs. Her face, in particular, had “caved in,” according to detectives in a criminal complaint acquired by the Times Leader and Scranton-based CBS affiliate WYOU.
“I know who you are and what you want,” the murdering son yelled at the arriving state troopers. “She is dead, my mom is dead, I killed her.”
According to the complaint, Watkins and his stepbrother got into a fight on the night of the murder when the now-condemned man began beating his mother on a couch. At some time, the stepbrother and the victim locked themselves in a bathroom. Then the stepbrother escaped through a window to seek assistance.
By the time he returned, the woman had died.
During a subsequent police interrogation, Watkins stated that he had only lately returned to live with his mother.
Watkins claimed that earlier that day, he smoked marijuana, fell asleep, and then began “hearing voices” from a “higher power” regarding the importance of intrafamily violence. According to his defense attorney, these distortions of reality included some apparent communication with a dog, as reported by The Citizens’ Voice in court.
A defense attempt to suppress those incriminating statements was refused at a preliminary hearing earlier this year. Watkins appeared to be bent on getting the case to trial and had previously considered an expert report to be critical to his defense. A trial scheduled for December 2023 was eventually pushed back to this fall.
In November 2023, when Watkins filed a handwritten complaint, his defense attorney attempted to withdraw from the proceedings. Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough refused the request, according to the Leader. Watkins reportedly changed his mind and stated that his counsel was doing well. Vough passed the punishment on Tuesday.
The offender apologized through tears at his sentencing hearing, according to a courtroom report from the Voice.
“I would like to start by saying I am sorry to my family,” Watkins told the crowd. “I’m extremely sorry. No words can describe how dreadful I feel. I adored my mother. I adore my family and am sorry. I’m so sorry. I was struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues.
I took what I thought was Xanax, and it put me into a whirlwind, causing me to hallucinate, have delusions, and do things I can’t express. I’ve lost everything because of drugs. Words can’t express how horrible I feel.
The deceased woman’s second son also spoke up during the hearing.
“Mom didn’t deserve to die like that,” he continued, also crying. “She lost everyone and was left with only us. She was willing to do anything for us. She just wanted us to live a wonderful life.”
Watkins will receive credit for 1,361 days spent in pretrial custody.