According to the police officials, the teenager was arrested and charged with murder after police say that he took his mother’s handgun and shot her in the head while she was asleep in their home. Authorities say that the boy was upset with his mom after she punished him by taking away his cell phone.
In May, then 17-year-old, Shawn Tyler Willis, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the April 2020 death of his mother, Sandy. His case was originally filed in the Anderson County Juvenile Court. But, on Friday, the case has been transferred to the Criminal Court. Prosecutors say he will be charged as an adult.
Deputies responded to a call about an unresponsive female found lying in bed inside a home in Tennessee on April 20, 2020. First-responders on the scene soon discovered Sandy had been killed while lying in her bed. The cause of death appeared to be a fatal close-range gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
Investigators identified her son Shawn as the primary suspect. After getting consent from Shawn and his father, investigators conducted a voluntary interview with the teen, who allegedly admitted to the murder and provided a detailed summary of his actions.
Authorities released the following statement:
“Shawn T. Willis confessed to taking his mother’s pistol from off of her nightstand as she was asleep. Shawn took the pistol downstairs, as to conceal the sound of loading it, then Shawn returned back upstairs to his mother’s room. 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.”
The suspect is in jail with a $1,000,000 bond and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing and plea set date on December 3 at 9 a.m.
Image Source – Sandy K. Willis | Shawn Tyler Willis
