LONG BEACH : Charges Filed Against Woman in Killing of Family
The district attorney’s office filed charges Tuesday against a Long Beach woman accused of murdering her three young children and husband on Mother’s Day.
Tracy Loper Matthews, 23, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Holmes. Matthews, 23, allegedly shot to death her husband, Kevin Strong Matthews Sr., 26, and stabbed her three children--Khareema, 4, Nyomi, 3, and Kevin Jr., 2--several times each in the heart on Sunday, according to authorities. Matthews then reportedly stabbed herself in the abdomen with the same large butcher knife used to kill the children, police said.
After undergoing surgery Monday, Matthews was arrested and kept under surveillance. She remained in fair condition Tuesday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Investigators said they had not established a motive. Friends of Kevin Matthews Sr. said the young couple were experiencing some marital problems.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
