Johnson County father and husband Accused of trying to kill his family He’s scheduled to seem over the weekend in courtroom Monday afternoon.
Matthew Lee Richards, 41, was arrested on Saturday After his alleged stabbing His spouse and set hearth to their Shawnee house Saturday morning, in keeping with police. He and his spouse have 5 kids.
He’s being held within the Johnson County Jail on 5 counts of tried homicide and one rely of arson with threat of bodily hurt in keeping with a flyer from the Shawnee, Kansas, Police Division.
Richards’ preliminary courtroom look is scheduled for two:30 p.m. Monday in Johnson County District Courtroom. His bail has been set at $5 million.
Kids’s Pastor in Shawnee
Richards is a kids’s pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee, in keeping with Kurt Whitten, a senior pastor, who commented in a Fb submit Saturday concerning the incident. Whitten couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Monday.
Based on him Biography on the church website, Richards and his household have been members of Crossroads since August 2016. The church’s web site says he and his spouse, Stephanie, are dad and mom to 4 boys and a lady.
“He and his household have three guidelines: 1. Love God. 2. Love individuals. 3. Love sports activities (particularly the Jayhawks and Sporting KC),” the bio reads.
The church has already eliminated Richards from its “Our Group” web page, the place he was listed as lately as August 2022, in keeping with Web Archives.
Trainer in Lenexa
Richards additionally reportedly works as a trainer in Lenexa.
Nonetheless, when contacted Monday morning, Christ Preparatory Academy in Lenexa declined to touch upon the state of affairs or verify that Richards is working with them. It seems that his profile has been deleted from School website.
however, Archive database for the site It seems that in March, Richards was listed as a seventh-grade English trainer on the faculty, the place he has been since 2020 and the place a couple of of his kids additionally attend the varsity.
Based on his personnel file, Richards earned a bachelor’s diploma in biblical science and science in training from Dallas Christian School and a grasp of arts diploma in kids’s ministry from Dallas Baptist College.
“Matt is the youngsters’s pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee. He has been in full-time ministry for practically 15 years. “Previous to coming into the ministry, Matt taught at a global faculty in Vienna, Austria, and an inner-city faculty in Dallas, Texas.”
Matt additionally loves sports activities of every kind however his favourite is soccer.
hearth
Officers from the Shawnee police and hearth departments had been known as at 3:47 a.m. to the 6600 block of Goode Drive for reviews of a disturbance and a home hearth.
The house is positioned close to Rhein Benninghoven Elementary and Shawnee Mission Northwest Excessive Faculty.
Firefighters discovered flames within the basement and shortly extinguished them.
Police mentioned on the time that seven individuals had been taken to space hospitals for therapy, together with one of many suspects. All of the victims had lacerations on their our bodies.
The lady, believed to be Richard’s spouse, and two of their kids remained in an space hospital Saturday afternoon for therapy, police mentioned. Three different juveniles, together with a 19-year-old man, had been launched from the hospital the identical day.
The Star’s Matty Gilman contributed.