Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Willingboro Public Safety Director Kinamo Lomon announced that a 23-year-old Willingboro man has been charged with killing his ex-girlfriend’s grandmother and brother inside of their Eastbrook Lane home late Wednesday evening.
Terrance J. Matthews, who also resided at the home, was charged with two counts of Murder (First Degree), one count of Kidnapping (First Degree), one count of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree) and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Fourth Degree).
The investigation began yesterday just after 10 a.m. when Westampton Township police officers were dispatched to the Wawa store on Springside Road on a report of a woman in distress.
The investigation revealed that Matthews and his ex-girlfriend, Krissida Williams, 22, had entered the store, and Williams told a Wawa employee that Matthews had killed her family. Matthews fled the store, and Willingboro Township police officers were sent to the house in the 100 block of Eastbrook Lane to conduct a wellness check.
Inside the residence they discovered the bodies of Jennifer Vassell, 68, and her grandson, Ishon Mathiln Jr., 9. Both were stabbed multiple times, and Ishon appears to have been drowned in a bathtub. Vassell was the grandmother of Krissida Williams, who also lives in the Eastbrook Lane home, and Ishon Mathiln was her brother.
The investigation further revealed that the murders occurred while Williams was at work on Wednesday evening. When she arrived at the residence after work, Matthews was at the home and held Williams against her will through the night. The motive for the killings appears to stem from an argument Williams and Matthews had during a telephone call earlier in the day on Wednesday.
Matthews was apprehended yesterday at approximately 2 p.m. by the Camden County Police Department following a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the Scion he was driving into a pole. Matthews utilized his Facebook account to broadcast the chase live.
He was treated and released from a medical facility before being transported to the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly. He is scheduled for a first appearance in Superior Court at 2:30 p.m.
The investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Willingboro Township Police Department, with assistance from the Westampton Township Police Department and the Camden County Police Department.
The lead investigators are BCPO Detective Erica Ridge and WTPD Det. Elijah Hart. The lead crime scene investigator is BCPO Lt. Mike Wiltsey.
All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.