‘I’m too high to cry.’ | Plano man sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing his mom

When Plano police arrived at the victim’s home, they found the 61-year-old mother wrapped in a blanket and badly beaten.

PLANO, Texas — A Plano man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the brutal killing of his mother, Collin County District Attorney announced.

Robert Lee Timmons Jr., 34, admitted to beating and strangling his mother, 61-year-old Rene Timmons, inside her Plano home in May 2024. Authorities said on May 16, a coworker grew concerned when Rene didn’t show up for work and called for a welfare check. When Plano police arrived at her home, they found her wrapped in a blanket and badly beaten.

At the same time and a short distance away, Richardson PD was investigating a separate report of a man unlawfully entering an apartment. That man was identified as Robert Timmons. According to police, Timmons told officers at the scene, “I just killed my mother.” Richardson officers immediately notified Plano authorities, who confirmed they were with Rene’s body. Timmons was immediately taken into custody.

Planp PD said that within hours of Timmons’ arrest, he admitted that he became angry and attacked his mother with a metal pipe and a piece of wood before strangling her. Investigators said he showed no remorse, telling the detective, “I know I am an evil person and it looks like I don’t regret what I did, but I’m too high to cry.” He also admitted to regularly using meth. 

Detectives later found out that just a day before the murder, Timmons had accused his mother of assaulting him. He eventually admitted he made the whole thing up, and even hurt himself to make it look real, authorities said. Authorities also said the injuries, still visible in his booking photo, were part of a plan to claim self-defense.

At the time of the murder, Timmons was living with his mother, per Plano PD. Friends told police that Rene had wanted him to move out because of his drug use, violent tendencies, erratic behavior, and unwillingness to seek employment. Court documents show, Timmons had a prior record of violence, including an arrest in Dallas County for Assault Family Violence Impeding Breath against his sister and another arrest in Collin County for Assault Bodily Injury against a male roommate. He was prosecuted in both cases.

District Attorney Greg Willis described the killing as one of the most disturbing cases of family violence his office has seen. 

“This was a horrific act of violence against the very person who gave him life,” Willis said. “This case is also a grim reminder of how meth can fuel violence and destroy families.”

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