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'I tried,' mother of killer Adam Matos says at sentencing

 
Convicted murderer Adam Matos arrives at the first day of his sentencing hearing on Monday at the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey. On Thursday, a jury convicted him of four counts of first-degree murder.  [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD   |   Times]
Convicted murderer Adam Matos arrives at the first day of his sentencing hearing on Monday at the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey. On Thursday, a jury convicted him of four counts of first-degree murder. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]
Published Nov. 20, 2017

NEW PORT RICHEY — His family described him as a loving, kindhearted father. His neighbors regarded him as quiet and respectful. His friends recalled him as "happy-go-lucky," a "laid-back, fun guy."

Thirteen witnesses told of a softer side of Adam Matos on Monday, as a Pasco County jury began the process of determining whether he should live or die for committing four murders. They learned he was sickly as a child, bullied in his early years.

"It's hard, I can't even explain to you, it's hard," his mother, Rose Matos, testified. "I tried as a single parent, I tried to teach my children there has to be another way than what you see on TV, or what you see before your eyes."

The same jury unanimously convicted Matos, 32, of four counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, after finding that he killed his ex-girlfriend, her parents and her new boyfriend in August 2014. Jurors must once again be unanimous if they wish to impose the death penalty, rather than life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"From what I can see of Adam, he loved his son so much that he would do anything for his son, as far as protection goes," testified Matos' godmother, retired Pennsylvania police Officer Maxine Jones. "I can't imagine anyone trying to take his son from him."

SENTENCING UPDATE: Jury recommends life in prison, not death

But prosecutor Chris LaBruzzo began day one of Matos' sentencing by reminding jurors of his cruelty to those he killed.

LaBruzzo said the murders were "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel," far outweighing the "mitigating factors" from Matos' life his defense team hoped would convince at least one juror to take the death penalty off the table.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Noel Palma again detailed how Matos shot 27-year-old Megan Brown, the mother of his son, point-blank in the eye after fatally shooting her father, 52-year-old Gregory Brown, in the back and abdomen.

Palma detailed the hammer blows: nine to the head of Margaret Brown, 52; and 21 or more to Megan Brown's new boyfriend, Nicholas Leonard, 37.

James Sigler, Megan Brown's boss at the Fisherman's Shack bar in Hudson, read text messages he received from her the morning of her death, Aug. 28, 2014.

"Jerry, some serious s--- is going on. My son's dad tried to kill me with a knife and threatened to finish me off," Sigler read to the court Monday.

"My son's dad came home last night and he put a knife to my throat and told me he was going to f------ kill me," the text stated.

When Sigler called his employee to make sure she was all right, Megan Brown told him that Matos had fled the Hudson home he shared with her, their 4-year-old son and her parents. Police were searching for Matos, she said, but she worried that they wouldn't find him soon enough.

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She sent Sigler another frantic message: "He's going to come back and finish me off."

Matos' friends and family said they would continue to love and support him, even after hearing him confess to the murders last week when he testified that he acted in self defense.

Adam Matos and his brother, Peter DeJesus — who also spoke Monday — were often left alone by their mother for up to two weeks at a time as they bounced from home to home around Allentown, Pa., family said.

Adam Matos was bullied and beaten by classmates and his alcoholic grandfather, his mother said. He didn't speak well and was a slow learner, she said.

But prosecutors homed in on a single element from Adam Matos' own testimony when questioning his mother, brother, uncle, three aunts and former girlfriend, among others.

Adam Matos admitted that his 4-year-old autistic son, Tristan, was sleeping in the Browns' Hudson home at the time of the murders. He then left the boy alone with the decaying remains of his mother, grandparents and another man for hours at a time spread out over five days. The child was left behind when Adam Matos drank beer at a neighbor's house, went to the bank, bought a shovel from Walmart and went to a neighborhood bar.

One by one, witnesses hesitated to answer LaBruzzo's question: "Does it change your opinion of Mr. Matos as a good father, to learn of all these things that happened while his son Tristan was still in the house?"

Childhood friend James Ingram said a difficult upbringing fueled Adam Matos to "be as close to his son as he could."

When he learned he was to become a father, Matos tried to find work as a DJ and a model.

"Adam is a very happy-go-lucky guy," Ingram said. "He's laid-back."

But when Ingam called Matos on Sept. 4, 2014, to catch up on his friend's move to Florida with the Browns, Adam kept the conversation short. He never mentioned the murders or his attempts to hide from authorities in a downtown Tampa hotel.

"I wasn't aware of those details," Ingram replied after the prosecutor told him how Adam and his son spent the days following the murder.

"No, that's not very laid-back," Ingram said.

The jury returns at
9:30 a.m. today to hear closing arguments and begin deliberating on whether Matos' case warrants a death sentence.