Man who harassed Black neighbors, hurled racial slurs, gets 8 years in prison
In 2021, Edward Cagney Mathews verbally attacked a neighbor and posted a video challenge "to come see me," leading to hundreds gathering at his house, demanding his arrest.
A New Jersey man who stalked, harassed and spewed racial slurs at his Black neighbors has, despite his tearful pleas for reduced time, received an eight-year prison sentence.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Edward Cagney Mathews, 47, will serve at least four years behind bars before parole eligibility. On Friday, he apologized for “my insensitive and disrespectful words in the past” and accepted responsibility for his actions.
Mathews said his behavior hurt his family and led to his wife filing for divorce and selling their townhouse. He’s lost all of his possessions, he added, during the two and a half years he’s been in jail.
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future,” Mathews told Superior Court Judge Gerard H. Breland, who sentenced him. “I want to commit to rebuild the community.”
Mathews pleaded guilty in October to four counts of bias intimidation and a drug charge as part of a deal with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors said he terrorized Black neighbors and board members in Mount Laurel’s Essex Place condominium association, about 17 miles east of Philadelphia, beginning in 2020. Residents in the racially diverse community complained to police, but investigators claimed there was never enough evidence to make Mathews face criminal charges.
Authorities said he called Black residents — most of whom were in their 60s and 70s — “monkeys,” threw feces on their property, wrote threatening letters and emails, and fired BB pellets at their cars.
Then, on July 2, 2021, Mathews verbally attacked a resident and posted a video that went viral of him challenging neighbors “to come see me” and giving out his location. That led to hundreds of people gathering at his house, yelling his name and demanding his arrest.
Mathews told The Inquirer shortly after the incident that he was drunk, and his actions were rooted in a long-running dispute involving the homeowners’ association.
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After multiple altercations with Mathews, LeRon Brown, the Black former homeowners association president, and his wife, Denise, who is white, moved out in 2021 after living 20 years at the complex — since its doors opened in 2001.
“The actions of what he did will forever stay a nightmare of the fear and anxiety he bestowed upon me,” wrote Denise Brown in a statement. “I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and trusting no one.”
Assistant County Prosecutor Jamie Hutchinson shared that Mathews has had 11 felony convictions since 1995. She noted that a drug conviction banned him from owning weapons, yet police found a slingshot, 30 rounds of ball-bearing ammo and hallucinogenic mushrooms when they searched his condo.
Breland rejected Mathews’ request to deviate from the agreed plea deal and grant him a shorter sentence. The judge ordered Mathews to attend racial sensitivity training and pay $4,408 in restitution.
He will be eligible for parole in about 16 months after receiving credit for his 886 days in jail.
“Our office is committed to combating bias crimes and sending a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated in our community,” said Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw, The Inquirer reported. “Nobody should have to endure what these victims experienced.”
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