Inset left: Shawn Willis (Anderson County Sheriff’s Department). Inset right: Sandy Willis (Obituary). Background: The heavily obscured residence where Shawn killed Kathy, his mother, in Rocky Top, Tennessee (Google Maps).
A Tennessee man will spend the next three decades behind bars for killing his mother because he was mad about losing phone privileges.
On Monday, Shawn Tyler Willis, 21, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree for the matricidal shooting.
On April 20, 2020, officers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department discovered Sandy K. Willis deceased in her own bed at her home on Andys Ridge Road in Rocky Top – a small town situated about 26 miles northwest of Knoxville. She had been shot at close range on the left side of her head with her own gun while she was sleeping.
Shawn Willis was sentenced to 30 years in state prison immediately after pleading guilty. Typically, such a sentence offers the possibility of parole in the Volunteer State after serving at least 10 years. However, in this particular case, according to a press release issued by District Attorney General Dave Clark, the defendant will serve “100%” of his time.
The defendant was only 16 years old when the crime was committed. By agreeing to plead guilty, prosecutors agreed to lower the charge from first-degree to second-degree murder.
On the day in question, Shawn Willis called his girlfriend and told her he discovered his mother lying in bed and covered in blood.
According to court documents obtained by Knoxville-based NBC affiliate WBIR, the girlfriend’s father arrived at the house and checked on Sandy Willis. Finding her unresponsive, he contacted law enforcement.
During the investigation, the son, who was the primary suspect, gave “numerous conflicting stories.”
But the subterfuge did not last long.
In May 2020, the killer confessed to a chillingly planned-out slaying during a voluntary interview with Detective Don Scuglia.
“Shawn T. Willis confessed to taking his mother’s pistol from her nightstand while she was asleep,” reads a juvenile court petition filed in the case. “Shawn took the pistol downstairs to load it quietly, then returned upstairs to his mother’s bedroom. He moved around the victim’s bed to the opposite side of the room, positioned himself beside her bed, and shot her at close range on the left side of her head, causing her death.”
That petition was made public in September 2021 – Shawn Willis turned 18 in August 2021.
During the investigation, authorities determined Shawn Willis shot his mother twice after she came home tired from working a night shift, according to the prosecutor’s office. The killing occurred after the defendant “became upset” because his mother took his cellular phone away from him. The defendant “protested” losing access to his phone, but Sandy Willis eventually just went upstairs and went to sleep.
The victim’s obituary remembers her fondly:
Sandy loved horses, butterflies, flowers, reading books, arts & crafts, sewing but she loved her boys and family most of all.
“This shocking crime demanded justice, and I am happy that it has been resolved as well as the law will allow,” Clark said in a statement. “We remain grateful for the support of this grieving family that has suffered a wound that cannot heal.”
The victim’s family was present in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing and was “pleased” with how the case was resolved, according to the prosecutor’s office. The sentencing in the case “was heavily influenced by restrictions” on punishments for juvenile murderers in Tennessee, the prosecutor added.
