WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County prosecutors are seeking to use allegations in a temporary protection-from abuse petition filed by Patricia Watkins in 2009 against…
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The murder trial of a Sugar Notch man accused of brutally beating his own mother to death is on hold while defense experts get to work reviewing the evidence.
A Sugar Notch man will stand trial on criminal homicide charges alleging he murdered his mother in a drug-induced haze, a magistrate ruled Thursday.
Erik M. Watkins, 39, is accused of killing his mother, 60-year-old Patricia Watkins, during an attack at their home at 301 Maffett St. early the morning of Dec. 13.
Police said Erik Watkins admitted he woke up after smoking marijuana and heard a âhigher powerâ telling him to attack his mother. Erik Watkins said he blacked out during the assault but remembered striking his mother in the face repeatedly with his hands and feet, according to police.
Investigators found Patricia Watkins dead in a bathtub, her face âcaved inâ and barely recognizable.
Sixteen people were victims of homicide in Luzerne County in 2020, according to the Luzerne County Coronerâs Office.
The yearâs cases included three people killed by family members, a shooting during a robbery and a suspect who was shot by the police.
Guns were the preferred method of committing homicide, accounting for 11 of the cases. Physical assault was the cause of death in three of the cases, and another case was attributed to injuries sustained in a car crash.
The number of homicides was up from the 12 people who were mortally wounded in Luzerne County in 2019, but was comparable to the total in other years â the county had 15 homicides in 2018, 16 in 2017 and 12 in 2016.