LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana man who admitted to burning down three predominantly African American churches to promote himself as a “black metal” musician was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay the churches $2.6 million. U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays of Lafayette sentenced Holden Matthews, giving the 23-year-old man […]
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — The suspect in a series of fires set at African American churches in Louisiana last spring is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing Monday in federal court, where he faces hate crime charges. Holden Matthews had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges arising from arson fires that destroyed three churches in […]
A crowdfunding campaign for three African American churches in Louisiana recently burned in a hate crime was climbing Tuesday (April 16) after social media posts urging the public not to forget the plight of the small houses of worship as the eyes of the world were on the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. “As we hold […]
OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) — The white man suspected in the burnings of three African American churches in Louisiana will remain in jail, denied bond Monday by a judge, as state prosecutors added new charges declaring the arsons a hate crime. Twenty-one-year-old Holden Matthews, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, entered his not guilty plea via […]
OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) — The white suspect in three recent arson fires that destroyed African American churches in Louisiana is scheduled for a bond hearing. The clerk of court’s office in St. Landry Parish says the hearing for 21-year-old Holden Matthews is scheduled for Monday morning before state District Judge James Doherty. Matthews, the son […]
