Search Continues for Texas Fugitive Who Vanished While on Trial for Killing Teen; Jury Sentenced Him Anyway

Livye Lewis' mother tells killer Matthew Edgar: "You can't hide from the lord"

Matthew Hoy Edgar; Livye Lewis. Photo: Sabine County Sheriff’s Office; Facebook

Authorities in eastern Texas need help finding a convicted killer, who has been on the run since January.

Matthew Edgar, 25, has been a fugitive since he failed to show up for his murder trial in late January.

Despite his absence, Edgar's trial proceeded, and a jury found him guilty of killing his 19-year-old girlfriend, Livye Lewis. He received a 99-year prison sentence.

Lewis, who lived in Hemphill, was murdered on Oct. 31, 2020, in Texas' Sabine County — a stone's throw from the Louisiana border.

According to prosecutors, Lewis was found dead in a vehicle along Farm to Market Road No. 83. She died from blunt force trauma and a shotgun blast to the neck.

Officers found a blood-covered Edgar nearby, lying in the fetal position.

At his trial, prosecutors said Edgar was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. On the way, he told officials he last remembered drinking on a porch. When told Lewis was dead, detectives claim Edgar cried.

Lewis' murder followed a party the pair attended. At the party, witnesses reported the two had argued, after Edgar called out Lewis for talking to another man. Lewis left the party on her own and Edgar, officials said, chased after her in his car.

Prosecutors shared text messaged from Edgar's phone during his trial. One, from early on the morning of Nov. 1, 2020, came from the man Lewis had been speaking with at the party.

The man asked about Lewis' whereabouts, to which Edgar replied, "dead."

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Police charged Edgar with the murder in November of 2020, and in April 2021, against the objections of prosecutors, a judge granted him $50,000 bond — which he eventually posted.

Lewis' mother, Darci Bass, tells KPLC-TV she'd like to see her daughter's killer behind prison bars, where he belongs.

"The pain of losing her, it's not ever going to change," Bass said. "I just want to start healing, you know. I mean, I am never going to walk the same. It's like I've lost a limb, all of my limbs, and I'm learning to crawl again."

Addressing Edgar specifically, Bass said, "Do what is right. You can't hide from the lord."

Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Maddox told the station his office was doing "everything we possibly can" to track down Edgar.

Maddox said he could be anywhere, and that there has even been a tip reporting that he was seen in Nevada.

Anyone with information about Edgar's whereabouts is urged to call either 911 or 409-787-2266.