Convicted murderer changes story in Accomack Circuit Court

By Linda Cicoira

The defendant in a 2020 murder case said Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court that he was defending himself and his family when he stabbed 29-year-old Deandre Arness Abbott of Parksley, a Perdue worker who had seven children.

Through a Spanish interpreter 37-year-old Edwin Colon-Matias, of Bloxom, told his story publicly for the first time. Despite his claims and regrets, the defendant was sentenced to 40 years, the maximum term for the crime. All but 10 years were suspended.

Colon-Matias has been held in Accomack Jail since his arrest last February. Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. ordered 10 years of supervised probation and 15 years of good behavior upon the defendant’s release.

The case was clear-cut when the trial was held last September. Colon-Matias pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan. A 10-year cap was put on his term, a date for sentencing was set, and a presentence report was ordered.

Morgan said the defendant was previously convicted of burglary and was required to give his DNA, which came up as a match on a cigarette or cigar butt, two knives, and a straw found at the murder scene.

Colon-Matias also could not be eliminated from material found under one of the victim’s fingernails. Abbott was stabbed several times with a final blow striking his heart. He attempted to drive off but didn’t get far before passing away. His body was found in a car on Bear Town Road in Mappsville.

Colon-Matias lived on the Eastern Shore for about 10 years and worked at Tyson’s. He needed a Spanish interpreter at a bond hearing. At trial, he told the judge that he could better understand English and did not need one. He does not read or write in English.

At sentencing, a letter from the defendant’s wife was presented to the judge. It was not read aloud but was described as outlining what she saw that night, which coincided with the statements her husband later made.

Colon-Matias asked for an interpreter so he could testify and make statements. He explained that he stopped his vehicle (near a Mappsville trailer park) to ask for directions to a birthday party in September 2020. Colon-Matias said a man told him the party was over, then attacked him, causing him to fall to the ground. The defendant said the man then tried to attack his paraplegic wife while his teenage son was in the backseat.

“The person who attacked me had a jacket and a hood and I wasn’t sure who he was,” Colon-Matias said.

Just before being sentenced, the defendant said, “I want to put a stop to this tragic situation … I’m not ever going to be able to bring this person back … the hardest thing about this whole situation is … every day I wake up and this person is dead … that’s going to require me to have therapy. … If he has family here, I just wanted to say I never intended to take his life.”

Morgan said the defendant was trying to con the court. He wanted to know why he never told this story to the investigator or mentioned that his wife and son witnessed the incident.

The defendant said the officer “told me he was trying to investigate an accident, and he was not accusing me of anything.” He was shown a picture of the victim but didn’t recognize him from the fight. He thought he might have been someone he had met in jail. Colon-Matias also said he didn’t know the man whom he had fought with had died. He said he had no idea the man was injured that badly.

“I would have called the ambulance,” the defendant said. “If I’d known he was dead, I would have called the police. He was walking around. He didn’t look like he was bleeding.”

Defense lawyer Richard Phillips asked for a five-year term. He said the case could have been argued as self-defense or defense of others, but then his client would have risked a longer sentence.