A neighbor recalls a frantic knock at his door and a neighbor begging to use his phone.
"At that hour of the morning, he would never just pop over, but he was actually kind of going nuts. He was hysterical."
That's what alerted the neighbor to the chaos going on inside a house along Maffett Street in Sugar Notch.
The man at his door said his brother, Erik Watkins, 39, was staying with them. He explained how Watkins had become violent and beaten their mother, then locked them and their dog in a bathroom.
The man said he had broken out through a window to look for help.
"Jeremy last night mentioned to me this brother had forced himself on the mother in the past. He is just a really, really bad egg," said neighbor Brian Zaboski.
Neighbors say they only get local police coverage until about midnight.
When the 911 call was placed about this incident around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, it took more than 20 minutes for state police to arrive.
"Who knows, if it were 5 or 10, maybe she'd be still alive, you know? I can't say any of that stuff, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that they would've been able to stop this disaster," said Zaboski.
According to state police, Watkins admitted to the killing as soon as troopers arrived.
Police found Patricia Watkins' body in a bathtub and describe her face as "caved in" and barely recognizable.
Neighbors said Watkins, 60, will be dearly missed in her neighborhood.
"She was a really nice lady. She'd do anything for anyone. When my grandkids were here, and hers were there, they'd go in the pool and play in the trucks, you know, outside," said Zaboski.
State police have charged Watkins with criminal homicide.