Madison County jury finds Belleville man not guilty in Granite City shooting death
A 21-year-old Belleville man is free after being found not guilty of murder by a Madison County jury.
Willie L. Matthews Jr. had spent nearly 20 months in jail. He had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of his sister’s boyfriend, Charles L. Cooper, 23, of St. Louis, on Nov. 3, 2019, in Granite City.
Cooper died six days later in a St. Louis hospital.
Matthews testified at his two-day trial in Edwardsville that Cooper attacked him at his sister’s house and that he was acting in self defense when he shot Cooper six times with Cooper’s gun.
The jury deliberated nearly seven hours before rendering a non-guilty verdict about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
“This is an example of one man, armed with the truth, fighting against the awesome power of the state and winning,” said Matthews’ attorney, Robert Bas.
Associate Judge Neil Schroeder ordered that Matthews, a 2018 graduate and former basketball player at Belleville West High School, be released immediately after the verdict was read.
Matthews walked out of the jail wearing a white button-down shirt and sport coat and carrying a plastic bag full of his belongings, as shown in a video taken by Bas. He smiled as his mother, Lassandra Richardson, of Belleville, ran toward him and jumped into his arms for a hug.
”Will was so happy,” Bas said. “He has been wanting to tell his story, but because of restrictions in place due to the COVID pandemic, he had to wait longer than he expected to be vindicated.”
A spokesman for the Madison County state’s attorney’s office could not be reached for comment Friday. The prosecution was led by Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Maricle.
The jury had the option of finding Matthews not guilty, guilty of second-degree murder or guilty of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors called about 10 witnesses, including three Granite City police officers, a medical examiner, a forensic scientist and Matthews’ sister, Essence Richardson, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Bas called one witness, a Granite City Fire Department medical technician who treated Cooper at the house and stated that one of his wounds was smoking, which indicated proximity to the shooter.
Matthews then took the stand, testifying that Cooper had attacked him and brandished a weapon at a relative’s home in East St. Louis five months earlier, leading him to believe he was dangerous.
According to Bas, Matthews also stated that:
- Matthews was planning to move in with his sister, who lived in the 2600 block of Hodges Avenue in Granite City.
- He showed up at her house on Nov. 3, 2019, with his belongings.
- He unintentionally walked in on his sister and her boyfriend in a bedroom.
- He went into the living room and sat on the couch.
- Cooper came into the living room and attacked Matthews, getting on top of him, making him feel like he was going to suffocate and causing him to fear for his life.
- Matthews saw a gun in Cooper’s waistband during the struggle, grabbed it and shot him six times.
- Essence Richardson told Matthews to leave the house, which he did.
- Matthews threw the gun away out of fear and turned himself into police on Nov. 15, 2019.
“Everything happened so fast,” said Bas, noting that Cooper weighed 314 pounds and Matthews weighed 190 pounds at the time of the shooting. “He had no time to think.”
After graduating from Belleville West, Matthews attended Illinois College in Jacksonville before his close grandmother died, then he spent a semester at Lindenwood University in Belleville.
Matthews plans to return to college and study business and computer technology, Bas said.
This story was originally published June 26, 2021 at 5:02 AM.
