5 key details about  Livye Lewis’s murder

Texas resident Livye Lewis’s murder will be covered in detail in the upcoming episode of 48 Hours on CBS. Livye Lewis was killed in October 2020 by one of the people closest to her, which devastated her family. Matthew Edgar was found guilty of the crime in 2021 and sentenced to 99 years in jail with chances of parole after 30 years.

Season 37 episode 26 of 48 Hours will replay this homicide. The episode is titled The Blackout Murder of Livye Lewis and the logline for the same read:

"A woman is found shot in her car on the side of a road with her ex-boyfriend disoriented nearby."

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5 important details surrounding Livye Lewis's murder

1) Livye Lewis was shot in the neck

Livye Lewis was found dead inside her car in October 2020. The vehicle was located on the side of FM 80, 2.5 miles east of Hemphill, as reported by KTRE. As per CBS, the 19-year-old was “draped over the steering wheel” and “dead from a rifle shot in the neck.”

Before Lewis could be rushed to the hospital she had already died. Her mother Darci Bass heard from a friend that her daughter was in trouble and later showed up at the crime scene demanding to learn what had happened to her. She told CBS correspondent Peter Van Sant:

"I just needed to know is she alive or is she dead...I wanna see my child. Livye Lewis! Where is she?"

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2) Matthew Edgar was also present at the crime scene and was found in a bloodied state

As per CBS, the victim's boyfriend Matthew Edgar, 23, was also found in a “fetal position” behind the car Lewis was found dead in. He also had a rifle next to him which was suspected to be the alleged murder weapon.

Although Edgar was bloodied, he was not injured in any manner. He was rushed to the hospital and was later arrested as he was the primary suspect in Livye Lewis’s murder.

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3) Matthew Edgar claimed that he did not know anything during the interrogation

As per CBS, when Matthew Edgar was taken to the hospital after being discovered in a bloodied state, he was asked about how he landed at the scene of the crime. Edgar claimed he had no memory of how he had ended up there.

When asked by J.P. MacDonough (Sabine County Sheriff's Investigator):

"You don't know how you ended up on the ground behind the car ... With the dead girl in it"

Edgar replied:

"No, sir. I have no clue."

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3) Matthew Edgar drained the battery of his ankle monitor

Matthew Edgar was arrested in a hospital bed in 2020 for the murder of Livye Lewis. However, he was soon released because of the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed the legal proceedings.

As per CBS, on March 16, 2021, Edgar was found guilty of the murder of Lewis. However, on day four of the trial, he escaped by draining the battery of his ankle monitor so that he could not be tracked further. He was again arrested in December 2021. Edgar is incarcerated at Byrd Unit, serving his life sentence.

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5) Matthew Edgar sent some threatening texts

As reported by KTRE and revealed during the court testimony, Matthew Edgar and Lewis fought because of a third person Lewis was allegedly talking to. Reportedly, before the victim was found dead, she attended a party along with Edgar, and allegedly, after the party Edgar chased her down on her way home and shot her.

As per KTRE, when the third person with whom the 19-year-old was talking asked Edgar about her whereabouts, Edgar replied "Dead."

Edgar also sent another strange text message that said:

"I will watch y’all, take y’all with a smile on my face."

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To learn more about this case, watch season 37 episode 26 of 48 Hours titled The Blackout Murder of Livye Lewis. It airs on November 4 at 10 p.m. ET.