The death of Livy Lewis: a party, a murder, and a man on the run

On October 31, 2020 at around 5 am livi lewis He was found unconscious in his car on the side of a road in Hemphill, Texas. Her ex-boyfriend Matthew Edgar said he had no memory of what happened to Lewis or how he ended up in the fetal position in the back of her car.

To find out what happened to Livvy, investigators had to retrace her steps from the previous night.

2:30 am | A party went sour

About two hours before Lewis was found in her car, she was at a friend's pre-Halloween party. Edgar, her ex-boyfriend, and his ex-wife, Montana Boeckel, were also there. Lewis had broken up with Edgar a few weeks earlier, and according to party host Bobby Ozan, Lewis and Bokel were enjoying the night out while ignoring Edgar.

By 2:30, most people had already left the party except Lewis and Boeckel. According to Bokel's first interview with investigators, Edgar suddenly returned to Ozan's house and heard that Lewis was going to spend the night with Ozan.

This made Edgar so angry that he began attacking Bokel, feeling that she could have stopped Lewis. He was also kicking Bokel's car.

Ozan tries to stop Edgar, allowing Bokel and Lewis to escape. Bokel heads to Edgar's grandparents' house in search of refuge, but it is unclear where Lewis was going.

Once inside Edgar's grandparents' house, Bokel begins texting Edgar. Those texts will become important evidence in the case.

3:34 am | Livy is “dead”

Edgar was angry at Bokel because she said she knew about Lewis and Ozan. Boeckel and Lewis had friendly relations.

At 3:34 a.m., Boeckel texted Edgar asking where Lewis was. He replied: “Died.”

From 3:30 to 5 in the morning. crime scene

Text messages indicate Edgar was at the scene around 3:30 a.m. A pickup truck that belonged to Edgar's cousin was parked behind Lewis's car.

“I think she proceeded to talk to him and I'll tell you why,” Sabine County Sheriff's Investigator JP McDonough told “48 Hours.” She was sitting there with her legs folded. Well, that indicates to me that she wasn't scared…it wasn't a fight or flight thing where she was ready to take the car out. “She was actually somewhat comfortable with who she was talking to.”

5:15 am A passerby calls 911

The call to 911 was made around 5:15 a.m. The caller had seen a car on the side of the road and had stopped to help. He discovered a horrifying sight. Lewis had no pulse. She was dead due to bullet injury on her neck.

Around 6 in the morning evidence at the scene

When first responders arrived, they found Edgar on the ground. While Edgar was taken to the hospital, investigators examined the scene. They found a rifle in the grass nearby, which they later linked to bullet fragments found inside Lewis's car.

7:39 am A mother looking for answers

At around 7:30 in the morning, Darcy Bass arrived at the scene looking for his daughter, Livvy Lewis. Bass received a call from a friend that something had happened to Lewis.

Bass's conversation with officers at the scene was captured on bodycam footage. He asked at least 23 times where Lewis was, but officers seemed reluctant to tell him. Finally, once he said Lewis was sitting in his car, Bass fell to the ground, realizing his daughter had been murdered.

7:28 am Hospital Interview with Matthew Edgar

While the investigation of the incident site continued. McDonough meets Edgar in the hospital. He captured the entire encounter on bodycam.

Edgar, covered in blood, claimed that he did not remember how he fell to the ground on the side of the road. After admitting that he drank an entire bottle of whiskey the night before, Edgar says that the last thing he remembers is falling asleep on his porch and then waking up in an ambulance.

McDonough informs Edgar that Lewis has been found dead in his car. Edgar appears to be crying but McDonough was not buying his story. McDonough arrested Matthew Edgar for the murder of Levi Lewis while he was still in a hospital bed.

Around 8:15 in the morning. dna evidence

While in the hospital, McDonough also collected Edgar's clothes as evidence. DNA testing revealed a small drop of Lewis's blood on Edgar's pants which later became crucial evidence for prosecutors.

But Edgar's defense attorney, Rob Hughes, argued that it was impossible to tell how long the blood had been there.

January 4, 2022: Matthew Edgar's trial begins

Matthew Edgar was free on bail. Edgar went to trial on January 4, 2022, but he only faced the jury for two days.

On the third day of testimony, Edgar failed to appear at his own murder trial. His mother, Cindy Hogan, informed Hughes that her son was nowhere to be found.

Authorities say Edgar let the battery on his ankle monitor drain and possibly fled on foot. The trial continued without him and he was found guilty.

2022 | Where is Matthew Edgar?

With Edgar on the run, Bess puts up wanted posters in hopes of finding her daughter's killer.

“That was the time – it was horrible. It was scary. And I thought he would just run away and no one was looking, and I had to make wanted posters and go with him to flea markets or little events they were having around town. They put them in shop windows and people asked me to take them down,” Bass told “48 Hours”.

December 29, 2022 | Matthew Edgar captured

Nearly a year later, U.S. Marshals along with the Sabine County Sheriff's Office and Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens found and arrested Edgar. It turned out that the house where he was found was just yards away from his grandparents' house. Investigators later determined that the home belonged to a family friend. When Edgar was captured, Edgar's mother, Cindy Hogan, was also found at the home.

3 January 2023 | Matthew Edgar formally sentenced

On January 3, 2023, Edgar was formally sentenced to 99 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years for the murder of Livy Lewis.