Matthew Edgar: Livye Lewis Murder, Trial, and 99-Year Sentence

Matthew Edgar is a Texas man convicted of the murder of Livye Lewis, his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, who was found shot to death inside her car on a roadside outside Hemphill on October 31, 2020. Edgar fled during the third day of his January 2022 trial in Sabine County, was convicted in absentia, and after nearly a year on the run was captured and formally sentenced to 99 years in prison.¹

The Night Livye Lewis Was Killed

Lewis was a recent high school graduate who wanted to become a physician’s assistant. She had dated Edgar and broken up with him a few weeks before her death.¹

On the night of October 30, 2020, Lewis attended a pre-Halloween party near Hemphill hosted by Bobby Ozan. Also there was Montana Bockel, Edgar’s ex-wife. According to witnesses, Edgar drank heavily and grew angrier through the evening as the two women ignored him.²

Around 2:30 a.m. on October 31, Edgar came back to the house and overheard Lewis say she planned to stay the night. Bockel and Ozan said he flew into a rage, attacked Bockel, tried to choke her, and kicked in her car doors while punching the windows. Ozan pinned him against a vehicle long enough for the women to leave. Witnesses said Edgar shouted, “I’m gonna kill y’all.”²

Bockel drove to the home of Edgar’s mother and grandparents. Edgar followed and, she testified, choked her again with their children in the backseat. He then texted her: “I will take your life her life and his life … Mark my words.” At 3:22 a.m. he texted, “I’m leaving.” Twelve minutes later, when Bockel asked where Lewis was, Edgar replied with one word: “Dead.”²

At about 5:15 a.m., a passerby called 911 after finding Lewis unresponsive in her car on FM 83, roughly two and a half miles east of Hemphill. She had been shot in the neck with a .308-caliber rifle round. There was no sign of a crash. Investigators found Edgar nearby, curled in the fetal position between Lewis’s car and a pickup belonging to his cousin, bloodied and disoriented. A rifle lay in the grass close by.¹³

The Evidence Against Edgar

Sabine County Sheriff’s Investigator J.P. MacDonough interviewed Edgar at the hospital. Edgar said he had no memory of the night, claiming he had drunk a bottle of Jim Beam and several beers and had fallen asleep on his porch. “I have no clue why I’m here,” he told deputies on bodycam. MacDonough did not believe him and arrested Edgar in his hospital bed.²

Forensic testing tied him to the shooting. A Texas Department of Public Safety firearms examiner determined that the rifle recovered at the scene had fired the .308 round that killed Lewis, matching a fragment taken from inside her car. Of 19 items submitted for DNA analysis, one sample from Edgar’s pants contained both his DNA and Lewis’s blood. Seven particles of gunshot primer residue were found on his jacket and pants, though the analyst said the timing of the deposit could not be pinned down.⁴ Investigators believed Lewis had pulled over voluntarily, meaning she was comfortable with whoever approached her.¹

A grand jury indicted Edgar for murder on March 16, 2021.²

Bond and the Convenience Store Encounter

Because prosecutors did not obtain an indictment within 90 days of Edgar’s arrest, Texas law entitled him to a bond hearing. Over the objection of prosecutor Kevin Dutton, District Judge Craig Mixon set bond at $50,000, and Edgar was released on April 6, 2021.⁵

On December 16, 2021, Lewis’s mother, Darci Bass, ran into Edgar at a local convenience store. She yelled “You killed my daughter,” threw items at him, followed him into the parking lot, and swung a chain from his truck bed across his windshield. Edgar called the sheriff’s office. Bass was charged with assault causing bodily injury, retaliation, and criminal mischief; she turned herself in, and the charges were later dropped.⁶

The Trial and Conviction in Absentia

Jury selection began on January 24, 2022, in the 273rd District Court. Edgar was in court for the first two days of testimony. On the third day, January 27, he did not show. Investigators found he had let the battery on his court-ordered ankle monitor die and had fled, likely on foot.⁷

The trial went on without him. Defense attorney Rob Hughes stayed to represent him. District Attorney Kevin Dutton told the jury the motive was “jealousy, plain and simple,” pointing to the threatening texts, the “Dead” reply, the rifle at the scene, and the drop of Lewis’s blood on Edgar’s pants.²

The defense had rested on Edgar’s claim of an alcohol blackout. His friend Shaun Dunn testified he believed the memory loss was real. Prosecutors countered that during the supposed blackout Edgar had driven a vehicle, sent coherent and threatening texts, and taken Lewis’s keys and phone. Hughes himself acknowledged he had never had a client function at that level while claiming no memory. The defense also questioned why the rifle was never tested for fingerprints or DNA, and argued that DNA can transfer through casual contact. Edgar’s flight overtook whatever the defense had left.²

The jury found him guilty of murder and set his sentence at 99 years.⁷

337 Days on the Run

Edgar stayed at large for 337 days. Former DA Dutton later said he suspected Edgar had never gone far and had help sustaining himself.⁸

On December 29, 2022, U.S. Marshals, the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens found him at a home belonging to a family friend, only yards from his grandparents’ house. His mother, Cindy Hogan, was there when he was arrested.⁹

Sentencing and the Lost Appeal

Because Edgar had been absent when the jury announced its verdict and punishment, the sentence had never been pronounced in his presence, which Texas law requires before an appeal can go forward. In October 2022 the Twelfth Court of Appeals dismissed his appeal for want of jurisdiction, holding that the defect could not be cured while he remained a fugitive.¹⁰

Once he was back in custody, the court formally sentenced Edgar on January 3, 2023, to 99 years in prison with parole eligibility after 30 years. Dutton, in one of his last acts as DA, moved to dismiss the appeal on the basis that Edgar had waived his appellate rights by fleeing, and the appellate court granted the motion. Dutton noted that Edgar could still theoretically pursue other post-conviction avenues such as writs.⁸¹

Charges Against Edgar’s Mother

On October 25, 2023, a Sabine County grand jury indicted Cindy Hogan-Edgar on a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon, tied to her alleged role in helping her son hide. She turned herself in to the Sabine County Jail on November 6, 2023, and was released the same day on a $20,000 bond.¹¹¹²

Where Matthew Edgar Is Now

Edgar is incarcerated at the Ellis Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under case number CR2107945. His parole eligibility date is May 31, 2052, and his maximum sentence date runs to 2121. He has not yet been reviewed for parole and is not currently scheduled for release.¹³

1
CBS News. Livye Lewis Death, Matthew Edgar Texas Murder
2
CBS News. Livye Lewis Murder, Matthew Edgar, Jealousy Motive
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KSLA. Man Convicted of Murder After Walking Away From Sabine County Courthouse Back in Custody
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KTRE. Autopsy Photos, DNA Evidence Reviewed in Hemphill Man’s Murder Trial
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KTRE. Mother of Deceased Livye Lewis Encounters Alleged Murder Suspect at Store
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CBS News. Livye Lewis Death, Matthew Edgar, Mom Charged With Assault
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KSLA. East Texas Killer Still on the Run
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KTRE. Sabine County Sheriff’s Office Holds Press Conference After Matthew Edgar’s Capture
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KSLA. Matthew Edgar Captured by U.S. Marshals
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Justia. Matthew Edgar v. The State of Texas, 12-22-00102-CR
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KSLA. Mother of Convicted Hemphill Murderer Matthew Edgar Turns Self In
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KPLC. Convicted Killer’s Mother Charged With Helping Him Hide
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Inmate Detail for Matthew Hoy Edgar