Man convicted of murder after walking away from Sabine County courthouse back in custody

HEMPHILL, Texas (KTRE) - According to the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Matthew Edgar was apprehended and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Edgar was immediately taken to the Sabine County Jail to await formal sentencing by the court, the sheriff’s office said. He has been on the run since January of this year.

Matthew Hoy Edgar had been arrested in November 2020 in connection with the death of Livye Lewis, 19.

According to testimony in court during the murder trial back in January 2022, investigators said Lewis was found dead on FM 83, about 2.5 miles east of Hemphill. She had a gunshot wound to the neck.

Edgar was found in the same area lying in the fetal position and bloody. According to court testimony, Edgar was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Edgar said he remembered drinking on the porch and awoke in the ambulance. Investigators say Edgar cried when he learned Lewis was dead.

According to court testimony, Edgar and Lewis had been at a party and an argument started regarding Lewis’ conversations with another man. After everyone had left the party, Lewis was on her way to Hemphill when Edgar caught up to her. Later, Lewis was found dead in the vehicle at the side of the road, but there was no evidence of a wreck.

Also during the trial, the state showed texts sent from Edgar’s phone.

“I will watch y’all, take y’all with a smile on my face,” said one of the messages he sent to Livye Lewis.

At 3:34 a.m., the man Livye had been talking to earlier texted Edgar, asking where she was. Edgar responded with “dead,” according to court testimony. The state pointed out that Edgar would be the only person who would know Lewis was dead at that time.

That testimony occurred during day two of the trial. Edgar walked away from the courthouse unescorted on day two, and was supposed to return the next day for the continuation of proceedings.

However, he failed to show up for day three, Jan. 27, 2022, and law enforcement began searching in earnest for him. He was never found until he was taken into custody today, Dec. 29, 2022.

Though he was not present, the trial proceeded, and he was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of Livye Lewis.

RELATED:

+ Jury convicts Hemphill man of murder as search continues for no-show defendant

+ Hemphill man texted ‘...take y’all with a smile on my face’ before shooting death

+ Mother of deceased Livye Lewis encounters alleged murder suspect at store

+ Sabine County Sheriff’s Office releases statement on convicted murderer Matthew Edgar

+ Sabine County sheriff says ongoing search for convicted murderer has intensified, broadened

+ Matthew Edgar listed as one of Texas’ 10 most wanted fugitives

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

+ Family of Livye Lewis mourns, pleads for justice with murderer still at large

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