As evening fell on April 7, 1997, a man in a ski mask robbed a Bridge City grocery. The masked robber demanded money from the store’s owner, Tommy Vanhoose. The robber shot Mr. Vanhoose several times before running from the store. He fired another shot on the street, ran to a car parked on the corner, and dove through the passenger window. Two witnesses who were driving on the same street saw the gunman fleeing. They drove in front of the getaway car and saw the gunman throw clothing and his ski mask out of the car window. The gun was later found on the side of the road. The driver of the witness car returned to where he’d seen the gunman throwing things from the getaway car. The witness picked up a ski mask, checked shirt, and a black glove. These items were turned over to police who’d arrived at the murder scene.
Witnesses provided descriptions of a Black male carrying a nickel plated revolver. None could describe the getaway car’s driver. The car itself was described as both gray and rust in color, with a vinyl top and without a license plate. The witnesses in the car later identified the getaway car as a 1985 Monte Carlo.
A police bulletin was broadcast, telling police to search for a primer gray or rust colored, older model Ford LTD or Chevrolet Monte Carlo being driven by two Black males. Nearly four hours later and about ten miles from Bridge City, police pulled over a primer gray 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix. Travis Hayes was driving the car and Ryan Matthews was the passenger. They got a ticket for not wearing seatbelts and for an expired brake tag.
Detectives were called to this traffic stop and they brought the driving witnesses with them. Police put their lights on the car and the witnesses identified it as the getaway car. A light was shone on Mr. Matthews and Mr. Hayes. One of the witnesses identified Mr. Matthews as the shooter. Mr. Hayes stood 5’0” tall, weighing 110 pounds, and was 17 years old. Mr. Matthews stood 5’9” tall, weighing 190 pounds, and was 17 years old. Witnesses at the murder scene described the shooter as 5’5”, 140 pounds, and 20-24 years old. At the station, Mr. Matthews was again identified as the shooter. Mugshots of Mr. Hayes and Mr. Matthews were shown to seven witnesses at the scene, but none made an identification.
The car Mr. Hayes was driving did not match the descriptions, either, in make or model; it did not have a vinyl top, as described by one witness at the scene. It also had a license plate. Importantly, the witness who identified Mr. Matthews reported the gunman diving through the passenger side window of the car during the escape, then throwing items out of that window as they drove away. The passenger window of Mr. Hayes’s car was stuck in the up position and could not be opened.
Both teenagers were interrogated without a lawyer or family member present. Mr. Hayes wound up giving three statements to police over seven hours of interrogation that included an alleged failed polygraph and a ride in a police car. The third statement was inculpatory, but got many details wrong. Mr. Hayes could not, for example, tell police how to get to Bridge City, which store was robbed, or how long the robbery took. Mr. Hayes also reported parking across the street (not on the next corner) and Mr. Matthews committing the crime without a gun or ski mask.
The trials of Mr. Hayes and Mr. Matthews were severed. Though juries heard that the car Mr. Hayes was driving could not have been the getaway car and neither defendant was the source of DNA found on the ski mask, clothing, and glove, Mr. Hayes was convicted of second degree murder by a jury in January 1999 and sentenced to life. Mr. Matthews was convicted of first degree murder in May 1999 and sentenced to death.
Innocence & Justice Louisiana investigated Mr. Hayes’s case while the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center investigated the case of Mr. Matthews. Another murder had been committed less than half a mile away from and shortly after the Vanhoose crime. A local named Rondell Love was arrested and pleaded guilty. While in jail, Love bragged about killing Mr. Vanhoose. DNA testing was performed in the second murder case and results were compared to the profile from the ski mask in the first. The results showed that Rondell Love wore the ski mask used in the Vanhoose murder. Based on these results, Mr. Matthews was exonerated in August 2004.
Absurdly, the state argued that Mr. Hayes should stay in prison due to his confession, though evidence had already proven that Mr. Hayes and Mr. Matthews were together all day on the date of the crime. Nearly three years later, a Jefferson Parish judge agreed with Innocence & Justice Louisiana’s motion and vacated Mr. Hayes’s conviction, in December 2006. Charges were dropped in January 2017.
Mr. Matthews, sentenced to death, spent over five years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Mr. Hayes served almost 10 years.
