In the quiet, early morning hours of February 18, 2019, in Willingboro, New Jersey, the life of 21-year-old Davell Williamson was tragically cut short. Williamson, a male resident of Willingboro, was sitting in a parked car on Millbrook Drive with a passenger just before 1 a.m. when the stillness of the night was shattered by gunfire. An assailant approached the vehicle and opened fire, striking Williamson.
He was rushed to Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead. His passenger was also wounded in the attack, sustaining a gunshot wound to the arm, but survived after being treated at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
For months, the investigation into Williamson's murder continued without an arrest. The case took a dramatic turn in June 2019, following a separate and horrific crime. Terrance J. Matthews, a 23-year-old from Willingboro, was identified as the suspect in the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend's 68-year-old grandmother, Jennifer Vassell, and her 9-year-old grandson, Ishon Mathlin Jr. After murdering them, Matthews held his ex-girlfriend against her will overnight. The next day, she managed to escape at a Wawa convenience store and alerted an employee that Matthews had killed her family. This set off a frantic manhunt that ended with a high-speed police chase, which Matthews partially live-streamed on Facebook, before he crashed his vehicle and was apprehended.
Following his arrest for the double homicide, investigators officially linked Matthews to the February slaying of Davell Williamson. He was subsequently charged with Williamson's murder, in addition to the killings of Vassell and her grandson. In June 2022, Terrance J. Matthews pleaded guilty to all three murders. Under a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 60 years in New Jersey state prison for each homicide, with the terms to run concurrently. The motive for Williamson's murder was part of a violent killing spree committed by Matthews.
