DeAndre Matthews, the 19 year-old gay Black teen whose dead burned body was found on New York City Train tracks is being investigated as a hate crime. The college student was last seen February 7, 2023 and was found by police in his mother’s SUV shot dead and his body burned.
When DeAndre Matthews, a gay 19-year-old, went missing on Feb. 7, his mother knew something was wrong.
Danielle Matthews used her SUV’s tracking function and located the vehicle that her son borrowed on a Brooklyn, New York, street about 10 minutes from where she and her son lived. There was a dark tinge on the inside of the windows. She called the police.
“When the police opened the door, smoke was coming out of my back seat,” Danielle Matthews told ABC News. “I knew my son was gone from that moment.”
A few hours later, police responded to a 911 call about a body on the freight train tracks near Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush, just a few miles away from where the SUV was found. Police identified the body as DeAndre Matthews. There were significant burns throughout his body, a gunshot wound in his head and signs of smoke inhalation, according to the police report. He was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.
DeAndre’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head with perforation of the skull and brain, according to the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The manner of death was a homicide,
“He was gay. And I feel as if this could’ve been a hate crime,” Danielle told NBC New York. She also believes DeAndre might have met his killer online because he had occasionally met new acquaintances via the internet, ABC News reported. Insider reached out to the family for comment but was unable to make contact.
Police officials have not said whether they have a reason to believe whether Matthews’ death was a hate crime, telling Insider that “the circumstances surrounding this incident remain under investigation.”
While no motive has been determined and no arrests have been made, members of the community share Danielle’s concerns.
“What we do know is that a gay boy that was 19 years old, that was full of life, that had his whole life ahead of him, was studying to be a social worker who was loved by his family and friends, was horrifically killed in a violent way, in a dramatic way that was meant to send some sort of message to our community, because otherwise, why would such a heinous crime be taken under?” Orie Givens, Director of Communications for the New York City Anti-Violence Project, told Insider.
