A 47-year-old Mount Laurel man has been sentenced in Superior Court to eight years in state prison for harassing and using racial slurs against several of his Black neighbors during repeated incidents that began three years ago, according to Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw.
Edward Cagney Mathews pleaded guilty in October to four counts of bias intimidation before Superior Court Judge Gerard H. Breland.
The investigation began on July 2, 2021, after a resident of the Essex Place condominiums where Mathew lived sought to file a harassment complaint against him to township police, who did not have enough evidence at the time for an arrest, according to news reports.
A short time later on the same day, a township officer responded to another call from the neighborhood to find Mathews using racial slurs and engaging in an altercation with four other residents. He then made a video challenging neighbors “to come see me” and gave out his Grammery Way address. The video went viral, and hundreds of area protesters showed up at Mathews’ home, chanting his name before he was arrested and led off by police.
The investigation eventually revealed a pattern of abuse from Mathews against his neighbors and members of the Essex Place condo association that began in 2020 and included leaving a threatening note on a neighbor’s vehicle and calling some Black residents “monkeys.”
Mathews was also convicted of possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute after police found hallucinogenic mushrooms during a search of his home. He must serve at least four of his eight-year sentence before parole eligibility.
“Our office is committed to combatting bias crimes and sending a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated in our community,” Bradshaw said of the case. “Nobody should have to endure what these victims experienced.”
