[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A 21-year-old Tennessee man is off to prison for the next three decades after pleading guilty to shooting and killing his mother five years ago after she took his phone away.
On Monday, Shawn Tyler Willis (above, in his mugshot) pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of his mother Sandy Willis (also pictured above, inset) at their home in Rocky Top, Tennessee. As part of the plea, Shawn has been sentenced to serve 30 years in prison.
Related: Teen Murders Random Uber Driver Just ‘To Let Some Steam Off’ — WTF!
The murder occurred back on April 20, 2020 — when Shawn was just 16 years old. Police were called to the family’s home that day on reports of a shooting. Once there, they found Sandy dead in her bed. She’d been shot in the head at close range with her own gun while she was asleep.
Investigators later determined Shawn called his girlfriend immediately after the shooting and told her that he’d found his mom dead in bed with blood on her. When cops zeroed in on the then-teenager, he reportedly gave conflicting stories about what happened. Finally, after weeks of interrogations, he admitted to detectives that he shot his mother in the head while she slept.
According to local news outlet WBIR, a police transcript of an interview Shawn gave with investigators noted that he took his mother’s pistol off her nightstand while she was sleeping. The teen then “took the pistol downstairs, as to conceal the sound of loading it,” before returning upstairs to his mom’s room. And then:
“[Shawn] walked around the victim’s bed, to the opposite side of the room, positioned himself alongside her bed, and shot her at close range, on the left side of her head, thus causing her death.”
As for the motive? Prosecutors said Shawn was upset that his mother had taken away his phone earlier that night in a bid to keep him from talking to his girlfriend. Seriously.
Court documents published by WATE News noted Shawn “became upset” and “protested” losing his phone. Sandy stayed firm on her decision to take it away, though. She walked upstairs and went to bed — and hours later, she was dead.
Ugh.
According to Law&Crime, parole is possible for those serving prison time on second-degree murder charges in Tennessee after about ten years. However, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release his office published this week that Shawn will serve “100 percent” of his time. Clark added:
“The sentence in this case was heavily influenced by restrictions our state has placed on sentences for juveniles convicted of murder. This shocking crime demanded justice, and I am happy that it has been resolved as well as the law will allow. We remain grateful for the support of this grieving family that has suffered a wound that cannot heal.”
No kidding.
What a terrible tragedy — and over something so inconsequential, no less.
For resources on mental health, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
To learn more about the impact of gun violence, visit https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via Anderson County Sheriff’s Office/Hatmaker Funeral Home]
The post Boy Kills Mom For Taking His Phone Away — So He Couldn’t Talk To His Girlfriend, Say Cops appeared first on Perez Hilton.