DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz sentenced a defendant to 25 years in prison on Sept. 11 for a homicide that stemmed from decades of domestic violence.
Michael Garrett, 71, pleaded guilty on March 19 to second-degree murder while armed for his involvement in the death of 71-year-old Sylvia Diane Matthews at her home, on the unit block of Elmira Street, SW on Dec. 3, 2021. Matthews succumbed to her injuries on Dec. 4, 2021.
According to court records, Garrett assaulted Matthews with a cane.
As part of the plea deal, parties agreed to a sentence between 21-and-26 years in prison for Garrett.
At Garrett’s sentencing, Matthews’ niece said her aunt raised her, felt like a second mother, and was a constant throughout her life.
“Please remember Sylvia Diane Matthews for more than the way she died,” her niece asked. She described Matthews as “quiet, sweet, and incredibly gentle.”
The one place Matthews should have felt safe, her own home, “became the place where her peace was destroyed,” her god sister emphasized.
“Diane I love you, I miss you, and I will carry you with me for the rest of my life,” Matthews’ god sister said.
Matthew’s cousin described her death as “unfathomable” and said the family lacked closure because they never viewed Matthews’ body. According to her cousin, the hospital and morgue employees discouraged her from looking at Matthews’ body because of the gruesome nature of her injuries. Mathews was identified through her fingerprints.
“Ms. Matthews is a typical domestic violence victim,” the prosecutor said and detailed Garrett’s lengthy history of violence against her. According to the prosecutor, the two met at Lorton Prison, where Matthews worked, while Garrett served his sentence for a 1994 burglary.
After they had a brief relationship, the prosecutor reported that Garrett committed a rape, assault, and burglary against Matthews in the 1990s. When he was released from prison in spring 2021, the prosecutor claimed Garrett harassed Matthews and asked her for money.
The prosecutor said the violence from Garrett culminated on Dec. 3, 2021, when Matthews’ “morning of terror started at 7 a.m.” Through video and photo evidence the prosecutor said Garrett tried to enter Matthews’ front door, she refused to open it, he pounded on the door, and harassed her.
When Matthews wouldn’t let him in, the prosecutor said Garrett turned to “plan B” and broke the glass of her back door. The police responded to Matthews’ call, she told them what happened, and officers canvassed the scene but didn’t see Garrett.
The police left, Matthews left to fix her car that Garrett had destroyed, and he returned to her home. When Matthews returned, she put her purse down and was “attacked and assaulted,” the prosecutor said.
After a “vicious assault,” Garrett “left [Matthews] in a complete blood bath,” the prosecutor said. They requested Garrett serve 26 years in prison.
“The prosecution has misstated a great deal of what she considers to be facts. They’re not facts. That’s her assumption. That’s her assertion,” Garrett argued.
Garrett asserted that he did not kill Matthews but that she fell down the stairs and was alive when he last saw her.
“I simply want to express my deep sorrow to her family,” Garrett said. “Their loss is also my loss,” because “she was all I had.”
Matthews’ family disputed Garrett’s notion that he was her “best kept secret.”
Garrett’s attorney, Wole Falodun, asked for his client to serve 21 years in prison. Falodun noted that Garrett “will still be a very old man if he ever leaves prison” and five years could differentiate between him dying in prison or the possibility of leaving custody.
Falodun noted that Garrett never intended for Matthews to lose her life and he will live with the consequences of what happened.
Judge Kravitz described Matthews’ death as “every woman’s nightmare.” He sentenced Garrett to 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
No further dates were set.
