NEW BOSTON, Texas: A Bowie County jury has convicted Toddrick Matthews of murder in the 2013 death of Sonjha Banks.
Matthews, 40, beat and strangled Banks to death on the night of Sept. 8, 2013, and then took steps to destroy and conceal evidence of the crime. Matthews put Banks’ body in a bathtub full of water and cleaning products and attempted to set his trailer home on Hobbs Lane in Hooks, Texas, on fire.
The jury deliberated Thursday for about four hours before being placed in an evening recess by 5th District Judge Bill Miller. They resumed deliberations Friday morning and returned a guilty verdict about two hours later.
First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked the jury for a life sentence in her opening statement of the punishment phase of trial. Matthews is facing 15 to 99 years or life.
Continue to visit our website for updates on the jury’s verdict at sentencing.
