Maywood man guilty of slaying Warrenville teen

Jurors deliberated about four hours Friday before finding a Maywood man guilty of fatally shooting a 17-year-old college student in Warrenville.

Joshua Matthews, 25, who represented himself at trial, faces up to 85 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the Oct. 9, 2004, death of Sade Glover. He showed little reaction as the jury announced its verdict.

Glover, a College of DuPage student and former childhood friend of Matthews, was shot five times, including once in the head, as she exited a car behind her mother’s townhouse on Winchester Circle. Although there was little physical evidence, Matthews later confessed in a videotaped police interview and, according to prosecutors, also to his mother.

In closing arguments Friday, Matthews contended that police conspired to coerce him into giving a false confession that contradicted several facts surrounding the case. He also disputed prosecutors’ claim that he shot Glover in a fit of anger after she pressed battery charges against him for punching her in the face the previous summer.

“She was pushing me out of her life,” he told the jury, “but I wasn’t heartbroken in a murderous rage. I loved this girl.”

Prosecutors Steven Knight and Bernard Murray portrayed Matthews as a lifelong criminal and “egomaniac” who became enraged and punched the victim in July when she refused to hold drugs for him. They said he killed Glover to prevent her from testifying about the attack, which could have landed Matthews in prison on a parole violation.

“He wanted to shut her up,” Murray said.

Throughout the two-week trial in DuPage County, Matthews presented his case wearing an orange jail outfit marked “prisoner” after refusing to wear clothes provided by his family and the public defender’s office. He also was subdued with a stun gun outside the jury’s presence last week after becoming combative with sheriff’s deputies shortly before giving his opening statement.

Glover’s mother, Barbara Hudson, who was surrounded by family members, shouted with joy Friday after the jury’s verdict was announced.

“The world is lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “It’s lifted a heavy load I’ve been dealing with since the day it happened.”

As for Matthews, she said, “He’s not right.”

By law, Matthews faces up to 60 years in prison for the murder, and an additional 25 years for personally firing the weapon that killed Glover.

His next court date is Feb. 15 in front of Judge Robert Kleeman, with sentencing set for Feb. 23.