Pennsylvania man beat his mother to death so badly her face 'caved in' during savage attack

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to up to 40 years in state prison after beating his mother to death so badly that her face "caved in" and she was hardly recognizable.

Erik Watkins , 42, brutally killed his 60-year-old mother Patricia Watkins in her Sugar Notch home in Luzerne County. Pennsylvania State Police troopers rushed to the home at around 2am on December 13, 2020, where they found the victim beaten to death.

Investigators said Patricia was left to die in a bathtub after suffering from multiple injuries including broken bones in her face, neck and ribs. Detectives wrote in a criminal complaint that Patricia's face was hit so badly that it had "caved in".

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As state troopers arrived at the crime scene, the killer son shouted: "I know who you are and I know what you want. She is dead, my mom is dead, I killed her." According to the criminal complaint, on the night of the murder, Watkins and his stepbrother got into a fight after the now-condemned man started beating his mother on a couch.

Police said the stepbrother and the victim then barricaded themselves in a bathroom before the man managed to escape through a window to try and get help. However, by the time the stepbrother, Jeremy Brodbeck, returned to the home, the victim was dead, the complaint said.

In an interview with law enforcement, Watkins said he had only just recently moved back in with his mother. He said that on the day of the murder, he had smoked marijuana before falling asleep. He told officers he then began "hearing voices" from a "higher power" that told him to attack his mother.

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Watkins initially pleaded not guilty, but on Tuesday morning he changed his plea to guilty to one count of criminal homicide in the third degree. He was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison. After admitting to the murder, Watkins offered a tearful apology in court, saying he felt "extremely remorseful" and claiming he loved his mother.

He said: "I would like to start by saying I am sorry to my family. I'm extremely remorseful. No words can define how terrible I feel. I loved my mother. I love my family and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

"I was suffering from substance abuse disorder and mental health. I took what I though to be Xanax and it sent me into a whirlwind, made me hallucinate, have delusions, things that I cannot describe. I have lost everything because of drugs. Words cannot describe how bad I feel."