Tampa man said after mother’s death that he ‘never should have had a gun,’ detective says - Tampa Bay Times

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TAMPA — After he was arrested at a Bartow hotel Dec. 4 on charges that he shot his mother in the head and tried to shoot his brother, Timmy Allen Keene told a Hillsborough sheriff’s detective that he “never should have had a gun.”

Keene, 61, said that his “anger got the best of him” the night of the Dec. 2 shooting at the east Hillsborough home where the three lived. He claimed he tried to shoot his brother when his mother got in the way.

Those were among the details Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Detective Kevin Rettew relayed Tuesday morning in a virtual court hearing. A prosecutor argued that Keene should be held in jail without bail until he can face trial.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Mark Kiser granted the state’s request, finding that Keene poses a threat to the safety of the community.

Keene, 61, watched the hour-long hearing from a room in the Orient Road Jail. He said little as he sat wearing a red inmate uniform.

Timmy Allen Keene, 61, appears during a virtual court hearing Tuesday. He is accused of shooting his mother and attempting to shoot his brother Dec. 2 at their Tampa home. [ Dan Sullivan ]

Related: Tampa man fatally shot mother after pushing her from walker, brother says

His brother, Raymond Keene, did not testify in the hearing. But the detective described the brother’s version of events, over objections from a public defender, who said the testimony amounted to hearsay.

According to the detective, Raymond Keene said that his mother, Mary Keene, had been arguing with his brother that night over “petty things.” She accused him of being “on drugs,” according to the detective.

As the bickering spanned nearly an hour, Timmy Keene threatened their lives, the detective said, telling them not to sleep that night and at one point asking if they could hear him sharpening his knife.

As the argument escalated, Timmy Keene pushed his mother to the ground, from where she stood at a walker, the detective said. While Raymond Keene tried to help her up, his brother went to a back bedroom and retrieved a handgun, he said.

Timmy Keene returned to the hallway and fired a shot toward Raymond Keene, who then fled out the home’s front door, the detective said. Looking back, Raymond Keene saw his brother aim the weapon at their mother’s head and fire, the detective said. Timmy Keene then fired shots toward his brother, who fled to a neighbor’s house.

Timmy Keene was gone when sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home, which sits on about an acre of land at 10217 Tanner Road, in unincorporated Tampa.

Assistant State Attorney John Terry showed several photos of the crime scene. They depicted what appeared to be an ordinary home. Christmas ornaments lay in a container on the kitchen floor, near where Mary Keene died. A small Christmas tree sat atop a cabinet in the living room. Small holes, which the detective said were from bullets, marked the front door.

Photos from the back bedroom, which the detective said was where Timmy Keene slept, showed a machete lying on a bedspread. Stacks of clothing filled a crib near the bed. Yellow evidence markers denoted a loaded magazine and a zippered gun case that sat atop a pair of jeans. Under the jeans, investigators found a 9 mm pistol.

Keene is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

“Mr. Keene is clearly a threat to the community,” Terry told the judge. “Even after killing his mother, he still attempted to kill his brother, who had to flee for his life.”

If convicted, the prosecutor noted, Timmy Keene could face the death penalty.

Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Beardsley argued that much of what the detective said was hearsay. She also noted that Keene lacks a criminal history. She said he would not be a threat to the community.

But the judge noted that Keene’s statements to the detective were not hearsay. The judge said he found a substantial probability that Keene committed the crime and ordered him held without bail.

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