Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a 23-year-old Willingboro man has been indicted for killing his ex-girlfriend’s grandmother and brother inside of their Eastbrook Lane home earlier this year.
Terrance J. Matthews, who also resided at the home, was charged with two counts of Murder (First Degree), Kidnapping (First Degree), Eluding (Second Degree), four counts of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree), Aggravated Assault (Third Degree), Criminal Restraint (Third Degree), Terroristic Threats (Third Degree), Resisting Arrest (Third Degree), and three counts of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Fourth Degree).
The indictment was returned today and signed by Prosecutor Coffina. An arraignment will be scheduled soon in Superior Court. Matthews is being detained in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.
The investigation began during the morning of June 20 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 Mathlin Jr., 9. Both were stabbed multiple times, and Ishon had been drowned in a bathtub, according to an autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood. Vassell was the grandmother of Krissida Williams, who also lived in the Eastbrook Lane home, and Ishon was her brother.
The investigation further revealed that the slayings occurred while Williams was at work the previous 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.
Matthews was apprehended on June 20 by the Camden County Police Department following a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the Scion he was driving into a utility pole. Matthews utilized his Facebook account to broadcast the chase live.
Matthews is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Bob Van Gilst.
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 Detective Elijah Hart.
An indictment is an accusation. Defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.