Jury finds woman guilty of setting up murder of 17-year-old brother while he was asleep in 2017

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A woman faces up to 40 years in prison after she was found guilty of killing her brother during an attack while he was sleeping inside their family's Silver Spring home six years ago. 

Leaundra Matthews, 25, was found guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday for strangling her brother, 17-year-old Christian Matthew, in the early morning hours of March 21, 2017. 

“This defendant was integral to the plot to kill Christian Matthews and served as the driver, both to and from, the scene of the murder," said State’s Attorney John McCarthy. "She executed a significant cover-up operation to deflect responsibility.” 

According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, 26-year-old Tysean Lipford was dating Leaundra Matthews and helped kill her brother. A jury convicted Lipford of second-degree murder in 2019. He is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

Officials claim in court documents that Leaundra Matthews confessed to her mother, Patricia Edelin, that she helped kill her brother. Edeline said her daughter was unremorseful and "straight faced" when she said "it had to be done. He had to go because he wasn't going to stop." 

Edeline reportedly asked if the plan was just to beat Christian Matthews up, to which Leaundra Matthews replied, "No, because you already know how Christian is you know that if he was going to get into a fight it wasn't going to stop there so we had to stop him." 

Court documents say Leaundra Matthews admitted to her mother that she picked up Lipford and another codefendant, Daniel Howard, and brought them to the home where Christian Matthews lived. She then went inside to make sure he was asleep. After confirming her brother was not awake, Leaundra Matthews reportedly unlocked the back door and left disposable gloves for the men. 

During Lipford's confession, he said those gloves could be found in a sewer drain behind the house. A pair of gloves were later found in the area with DNA matching Lipford. 

When Edeline asked Leaundra Matthews what happened to Christian Matthews, she explained that he was held down while Lipford choked him. 

Leaundra Matthews's twin sister, Lemae Matthews, pleaded guilty to helping her sister after the fact in October 2021. Another codefendant facing murder charges is Daniel Howard. His trial is scheduled for April 2024. She will be sentenced following Howard's trial. 

Edeline reportedly called that night of the murder to ask what her daughter was doing. When they spoke, Leaundra Matthews said she was dropping the other suspects off. 

"So Christian was already dead when I called you and talked to you on the phone?" Edeline asked her daughter to which, Leaundra Matthews said "yeah." 

Leaundra Matthews faces up to 40 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 19, 2024, at 2 p.m.