Son of St. Landry Parish sheriff’s deputy arrested in church arson investigation

15th April 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

Holden Matthews, the 21-year-old son of a St. Landry Parish sheriff’s deputy, was arrested on April 10 for starting fires that destroyed three historic Black churches in St. Landry Parish in the span of a little over one week.

In the early morning hours of March 26, St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre burned down. On April 2, again in the early morning, Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas fell victim to a devastating fire. On April 4, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas burned down. The three churches were vacant when the fires began and no one was injured in any of the blazes.

Matthews was charged with three counts of simple arson relating to these crimes. Each charge can result in a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, the ATF, the FBI, the Louisiana State Police, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, the St. Landry’s Parish Sheriff’s Office, and other local agencies devoted manpower to investigating the fires.

“The response to this incident was seamless,” said Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning at an April 11 press conference.

Browning added that this was one of the most unique arson investigations he had been involved with during his 33-year career. He said the arrest occurred within 12 hours of Matthews being labeled a suspect. The arrest was the result of a combination of boots-on-the-ground detective work and modern technology. Browning said he believed their work stopped more crimes from occurring. Even with Matthews’ arrest, the investigation is still active.

“We are very restricted on what we can say… We’re still vetting several motives,” Browning said.

Browning said hate crimes fall under the jurisdiction of federal authorities, and further investigation regarding Matthews’ motives will be handled by the FBI.

Dana Nichols, special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Division of the ATF, spoke passionately about the arrest.

“Today is a good day… No, let me rephrase that. Today is a great day,” Nichols said. “There is a zero tolerance for this type of crime.”

Pastor Freddie Jack, president of the 7th District Missionary Baptist Association, said the fires were a shock to the community. There had no been threatening phone calls or hateful messages directed at the churches recently. He described his feelings as “hurt and concern” when he first heard about the arson.

“It just happened and it caught us off guard,” Jack said.

For members of the parishes, the churches were places that held a lifetime of memories: baptisms, weddings, funerals, and more. But as painful as the past two weeks have been, Jack said other parishes have stepped up to offer their churches and assistance to the parishioners of the three destroyed churches.

“This has given us a common cause,” Jack said. “We’re banding together like brothers and sisters ought to in times like these… It’s going to be a long process.”

Little information about Matthews was available on his Facebook page, which listed him as the lead singer and songwriter for a band called Vodka Vultures. By the evening of April 10, angry comments began filling his page. Some were jokes (e.g. a picture of Elvis Presley singing “Jailhouse Rock”) and some were obscene.

St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said early media reports that Matthews’ father turned in Matthews were false. He said the case was solved by the competent men and women investigating the arson, not by any tips. Guidroz spoke highly of Deputy Roy Matthews, who he said was a “fine man” who “broke down” when told the news of his son’s impending arrest.

“He was shocked and hurt as any father would be in those circumstances,” Guidroz said. “He was in terrible shape.”

While investigators are still examining the alleged motive for the crimes, during a press conference last Thursday (April 11), investigators said that Matthews has “a relationship with a type of music called black metal,” which has in the past been associated with church burnings in other parts of the world.

Reverend Gerald Toussaint, pastor of the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, thanked the investigators and everyone who helped his church after the fire. Toussaint, who also drives an 18-wheeler full-time, said the experience was “strenuous” but implored people to treat each other with kindness.

“Be strong. Love one another. Be patient with one another. Help one another. Guide one another,” Toussaint said. “Though this investigation was done in the dark, we’ll come to the light.”

At the April 11 press conference, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called for people to pray for the churches and their parishioners. But he also added that people should pray for Matthews, too. Gov. Edwards’ comments were met with affirmative responses from those in attendance.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, strongly condemned the attacks.

“What is happening in Tennessee and Louisiana is domestic terrorism and we must not turn a blind eye to any incident where people are targeted because of the color of their skin or their faith,” Johnson said in a statement. “The spike in church burnings in Southern states is a reflection of the emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country.”

The Tennessee incident Johnson alluded to in his statement was a suspicious fire at the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tenn. In addition to the fire, vandals spray-painted anti-semitic slurs and white supremacist symbols on the walls and in the parking lot.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, released state in praise of the Matthews’ arrest.

“We welcome the arrest of the person allegedly responsible for three attacks targeting a faith community,” said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper in statement released by the group. “We urge law enforcement authorities and prosecutors to investigate these attacks as possible hate crimes.”

Hooper’s statement also noted that CAIR had witnessed a spike in the instances of “bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.”

The Urban League of Louisiana applauded the efforts of law enforcement officials investigating the case and urged them to continue seeking answers.

“With a suspect now in custody, we strongly urge those investigating the recent church fires in the Acadiana region to leave no stone unturned in the quest for answers in this situation. It is deeply disturbing to see the surge in acts of hatred, especially in our churches, which for centuries have and remain today anchors in their communities and places of refuge for those they serve,” said Judy Reese Morse, president and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana.

“The fires have taken down the buildings, but they cannot destroy the spirit of those who have lost their places of worship. We are grateful to all those involved for their diligent efforts thus far and urge them to sustain this diligence in bringing those who perpetrated these crimes to swift justice,” Morse said.

For those looking to assist the St. Landry churches in their time of need, Jack said concerned citizens can send donations to the 7th Missionary Baptist Association, P.O. Box 281, Ville Platte, LA 70586 or click on the following link for the association’s Go Fund Me page (https://www.gofundme.com/church-fires-st-landry-parishmacedonia-ministry?member=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binvitesupporters).

This article originally published in the April 15, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.