Darryl Matthews was ordered released Friday from a halfway house where he was held while a grand jury investigates a charge that he fatally stabbed 60-year-old Hayes Osei Dennis in July 2012.
Matthews has now been placed in the court’s High Intensity Supervision Program and is required to live with his parents, wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and partake in weekly drug tests.
Judge Russell Canan granted the defense’s motion for the release after hearing testimony that Matthews had behaved well at the halfway house.
Matthews’ attorney, Jeffrey Stein, said Friday that Matthews has had no infractions or issues with curfew while being held, and has recently participated in a kitchen training program where he will test to become a certified chef.
In April, Canan found enough evidence in the case against Matthews to send it to a grand jury to investigate, but placed Matthews in a halfway house instead of the more usual jail hold because there were “a lot of question marks” in the case.
Police found Dennis on July 19, 2012 around 7:00 p.m. on the block of Q Street Southwest unconscious and suffering from a stab wound. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Eight months later, Matthews, 29, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection with Dennis’ death.
Prosecutors say Dennis was murdered after being robbed at a Gold Star parking garage.
Court documents state a witness told police that around 7 p.m. a man entered the garage, grabbed a cup of water, and then said to Dennis, “Give me your money, or I’ll kill you.” The man had a weapon underneath a jacket he was carrying, the witness said.
According to arrest documents, Dennis gave the man some money. The man then dropped his cup, and left the garage, but when Dennis went to close the garage door, the man turned around and stabbed him.
Prosecutors extended a plea offer to Matthews in April that required him to plead guilty to second-degree murder, in exchange for a sentence capped at 18 years in prison. Matthews denied the offer.
The case is scheduled for a felony status conference on December 13.
