Murder of Livye Lewis

Livye Lewis, 19, of Hemphill, Texas, was found shot to death in her car on a rural roadside outside town in the early hours of October 31, 2020. A passerby called 911, and investigators found Matthew Hoy Edgar near the scene. Edgar was arrested after receiving hospital treatment.

At trial, prosecutors relied on evidence that included Edgar's rifle near the scene, ballistics evidence linking it to a bullet fragment in Lewis's car, a small amount of Lewis's blood on Edgar's clothing, and text messages they argued reflected threats and knowledge of her death. Edgar said he had been drinking and did not remember the relevant period. The defense disputed the inferences from the physical evidence and noted limits in the forensic testing.

A judge released Edgar on reduced bond in 2021 after pandemic-era court delays prevented an indictment within the statutory period. His jury trial began in Sabine County on January 24, 2022. Edgar stopped attending on January 27, and the trial continued in his absence; the jury convicted him of murder and assessed a 99-year sentence.

On October 21, 2022, the Texas Twelfth Court of Appeals dismissed Edgar's first appeal for want of jurisdiction because the sentence had not been pronounced in his presence. The court did not decide the merits and explained that the appeal timetable could begin after he was apprehended and sentenced in person.

Authorities captured Edgar near Hemphill on December 29, 2022, after roughly eleven months as a fugitive. He was sentenced in person on January 3, 2023. Texas DPS's current record documents the capture, murder conviction, and 99-year sentence.