Leaundra Matthews, 25, of Prince George’s County was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for her role in the 2017 strangulation death of her 17-year-old brother in Silver Spring.
In August, Leaundra Matthews was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Christopher Matthews after a week-long trial.
Leaundra Matthews’ attorney Jeffrey Zahler said he will appeal the case this week because her brother abused her and her baby, and that evidence wasn’t able to be presented to the jury.
“The sentence was a little higher than necessary, considering she was convicted of a second-degree murder,” Zahler told MoCo360 on Tuesday.
Tysean Lipford, Leaundra Matthews’ boyfriend, whom she shares children with, confessed to fatally strangling Christopher Matthews, 17, on March 21, 2017, and told police that he and his girlfriend conspired to kill him, according to charging documents.
Leaundra Matthews stated that on March 21, 2017, she picked up Lipford and co-defendant Daniel Howard and drove them to her brother’s house, charging documents said. Leaundra Matthews said she went to the basement to confirm her brother was asleep, and then unlocked the back door and left disposable gloves for Lipford and Howard, according to charging documents.
Leaundra Matthews said that Howard held her brother down while Lipford choked him, according to charging documents.
Montgomery County Police responded to the 1000 block of Mondrian Terrace around 2:25 a.m. for a “suspicious situation,” and upon arrival, officers found Christopher Matthews unresponsive in the basement of the home, charging documents stated. He was then transported to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring where he was pronounced dead.
Lipford said that Leaundra Matthews told him that her brother had threatened to physically harm her and their daughter, so he had to kill him, charging documents indicated.
On Aug. 15, 2019, Leaundra Matthews confessed to her mother that she conspired in the murder of her brother, saying “it had to be done” and that “he had to go because he wasn’t going to stop,” according to charging documents.
Zahler told MoCo360 after the conviction that the defense would appeal the decision because he said certain evidence that would have changed the outcome of the case was not admitted by the court.
The evidence Zahler points to is that Leaundra Matthews had been physically and sexually abused by her brother for years and had PTSD, along with the sibling equivalent of battered spouse syndrome. Her daughter was abused by him too, Zahler added, and Leaundra Matthews was acting in self-defense.
Zahler said that she was diagnosed with PTSD by a doctor from the defense and one that the prosecution provided. However, the court deemed this mental illness evidence inadmissible because the battered spouse syndrome argument can only be used when a couple is involved, according to Zahler.
Zahler argued that the distinction between romantic and sibling relationships in terms of abuse should not matter in this case.
“If all the facts had been the same, but they had been a husband or wife or just a romantic relationship, it seems most likely the jury would have heard the information,” Zahler said.
Zahler added that on the night of the murder, Christian Matthews threatened that he and their stepbrother would rape Leaundra Matthews and her daughter later that day, but the jury never heard that.
“It’s unfortunate the jury never really got to see most of the evidence, and that’s really going to be one of the main grounds of appeal there,” Zahler said.
The State’s Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the sentencing, but after the conviction, State’s Attorney John McCarthy said:
“This defendant was integral to the plot to kill Christian Matthews and served as the driver, both to and from, the scene of the murder. She executed a significant cover-up operation to deflect responsibility, but thanks to the work of the Montgomery County Police Homicide Unit and Assistant State’s Attorneys Ashley Inderfurth and Sheila Bagheri, she will now be held accountable.”
In January 2019, Lipford was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced in June 2019 to 30 years in prison, which he is currently serving, the State’s Attorney’s Office said. Howard is also facing murder charges, and his trial is set for April 2024.
Leaundra Matthews’ twin sister, Lemae Matthews, was in the home at the time of the death and was part of the case as well, according to charging documents. Additionally, Lemae Matthews pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder in October 2021 and will be sentenced after Howard’s trial, facing up to 10 years in prison according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.