'Person of interest' sought in slaying

Police are searching for a "person of interest" for questioning in the shooting death of 31-year-old Anthon Mario Matthews, a slaying that detectives believe is a drug-related robbery.

Wanted for questioning is 21-year-old Demario Jaquece Edwards, of Shelbyville, who had a previous address on Fairground Heights.

According to Detective Sgt. Brian Crews of the Shelbyville Police Department, Edwards is not a suspect in the slaying, but police do want to ask him some questions.

Crews said this morning that Edwards' friends and family have been caught in lies about his whereabouts, "and we feel like he's avoiding us, and that concerns us."

The detective said they have spoken to about 15 to 20 people in the course of the investigation and have all been cooperative, but Edwards is the only one that has not agreed to come in.

"This guy's name keeps coming up and he doesn't want to be found," Crews said.

Edwards is described as six foot tall, weighing 255 pounds with brown eyes. A flyer released by the Shelbyville Police Department says that Edwards should be considered armed and dangerous.

Matthews' body was discovered Monday by maintenance workers Billy Hardin and Charles Koah at East Lane Trailer Park, after they had called Shelbyville Animal Control about possible abandoned dogs that needed to be retrieved.

Animal control officers are not authorized to go into the units without a warrant, and when they arrived, the maintenance workers entered the trailer and found Matthews' body.

What is known is that Matthews died from a single gunshot wound to the head, Crews said Tuesday, which was confirmed by the state medical examiner's office.

"We still feel like the motive behind this was robbery," Crews said. "We know that he was a drug dealer and we feel confident that probably drugs and money were stolen during this robbery that ultimately led to his death."

Matthews was originally from Memphis, had previously lived in Tullahoma and had been residing in the East Lane trailer since April.

According to a report by officer Bruce Davis, Hardin and Koah unlocked the trailer and started to let the dogs out one by one, with animal control officer Rusty Sartain on hand to assist if needed.

After the dogs were removed, Hardin and Koah entered the trailer with Sartain to check for damages "and by doing so they observed a body lying on the floor inside the kitchen area," Davis' report read.

Crews said Tuesday they are trying to narrow the list of suspects down, stating that the victim's "lifestyle makes it hard to have a short list of suspects."

The detective said on Monday that while Matthews had no police record in Shelbyville, he did have a record elsewhere for possession of drugs for resale.

Police were following up on leads Tuesday and Crews said the most important thing is to track down the people Matthews last had contact with.

"In cases like this, where someone has not been in Shelbyville very long, we don't know how many contacts he had," Crews explained.

Crews said Monday that at the scene of the murder, signs of a struggle were apparent, and the detective added that the last time Matthews had spoken to anyone was Thursday night.

"He is in the business of selling drugs, so he does have a clientèle, and when you put yourself in that type of position, you have to wonder if it's the smokers that rip you off or other dealers."

Anyone with information on this case should call Shelbyville police at 684-5811.