Captured convicted murderer Matthew Edgar formally sentenced in Sabine County

SABINE COUNTY, Texas (KSLA) - A convicted murderer, who was finally caught after being on the run for 11 months, has now been formally sentenced.

On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Matthew Edgar, who was captured Dec. 28, 2022, was formally sentenced in a Sabine County court for the murder of his girlfriend, Livye Lewis.

Edgar was convicted of murdering Lewis despite not attending after the second day of his trial and going on the run. He previously had been sentenced to 99 years in prison. On Tuesday afternoon, that sentence was made official.

In the courtroom Tuesday, a couple of Lewis’ family members made victim impact statements. Her mother and grandmother spoke.

Lewis’ grandmother described her personality, saying she was full of life. Lewis was a freshman at Stephen F. Austin University at the time of her death. She was about to go to nursing school, her grandmother said Tuesday.

The grandmother also told the court about the last time she saw Lewis; she said she was picking up tamales for Edgar’s family. The grandmother asked Edgar if he remembered that day, and he nodded “yes.”

Lewis’ grandmother said the family just wants to know what Lewis did to Edgar to deserve her fate, and said “it’s in God’s hands.”

Lewis’ mother, Darci Bass, also gave an impact statement by playing a video of Lewis giving her valedictorian speech when she graduated from high school. In the video, Lewis spoke about how high school impacted her, and how her classmates and teachers helped her become a certified nursing assistant while she was still in high school; she also thanked her mother in the video.

Copyright 2022 KSLA. All rights reserved.