Autopsy photos, DNA evidence reviewed at Hemphill man’s murder trial

HEMPHILL, Texas (KTRE) - The trial of a Hemphill man accused of shooting and killing a 19-year-old woman continued Wednesday.

Wednesday, the court viewed autopsy photos of Livye Lewis at the trial of Matthew Hoy Edgar.

The judge originally granted the defense a running objection to showing the photos, but later reversed it citing judicial economy and the photos were shown.

In one of the photos, an x-ray showed Livye Lewis’ humerus was fractured. The doctor who performed the autopsy on Lewis, Danielle Armstrong, said this would have been caused by trauma from the bullet and it is her opinion that Lewis died from a gunshot wound.

Edgar appeared to show no emotion as the photos were shown.

The court also heard about DNA profiles pulled from various items.

DNA results from blood on Edgar’s chin from the day showed it was not Lewis’s blood. Results from blood on Edgar’s forehead showed a mixture of two people’s DNA profiles, but Lewis’s was not among the two. The gear shifter in Livye Lewis’ car had her DNA on it, but not Edgar’s.

Three different DNA samples were also collected from Edgar’s pants at the hospital. Sample A had three profiles on it, including Edgar but not Lewis. Sample B had both Lewis and Edgar’s DNA on it. Sample C was only Edgar’s.

Of the 19 items sent in for DNA analysis, only one had both Edgar’s and Lewis’ DNA profile on it. That item was sample b and the original stain from that has been depleted. Only Edgar and Lewis’ DNA profiles were submitted, so it is unknown who the other DNA profiles found on the blood from Edgar’s chin and forehead belong to.

Rebecca Lloyd, a forensic scientist with DPS, specializes in gun shot residue analysis and performed the analysis on Edgar’s jacket and pants. Seven primer residue articles were found on both Edgar’s jacket and pants, however, there is no way of being able to tell the timing of when those articles got on the items.

Shane Windor, a DPS crime lab firearms expert out of Houston, said he determined that the .308 round was fired by the rifle being used as exhibit #1. Bullet jacket evidence and a fragments of the bullet were used as exhibit #9. In cross-examination, it was found that these pieces of evidence weren’t sent in for DNA or biology testing.

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