The final defendant in the 2023 murder of a pregnant woman in Decatur has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after accepting a plea deal with prosecutors. Twenty-one-year-old Mattavius Anderson appeared in Macon County Court on Monday for a disposition hearing, just one day before his case was set to go to trial.
Court records show Anderson had waived his right to a jury trial in September and was preparing for a bench trial before a deal was reached last month. On October 16, both parties informed Judge Thomas Griffith that an agreement had been made.
As part of the deal, all nine original charges against Anderson — including murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated battery with a firearm — were dismissed. In exchange, he pleaded guilty to a new charge of residential burglary.
According to Decatur Police, the case stemmed from a deadly shooting on March 8, 2023, that killed 20-year-old Janiah Thomas, who was 26 weeks pregnant. Investigators said the violence erupted after a dispute over Snapchat between the Anderson brothers — Mattavius, then 18, and his 15-year-old brother, Mattarion — and Thomas’ boyfriend and his brother.
That night, the Anderson brothers and a third person, 17-year-old Tarlan Mackey, went to the home near Woodford Street and Grand Avenue where Thomas lived with her two children. A witness later told police that one of the teens appeared to be armed, according to local CBS WCIA.
Inside the home, Thomas was sitting on the couch with her children when shots rang out. She tried to shield her four-year-old daughter, but both were struck by bullets. Thomas died at the scene along with her unborn child. Her daughter survived but was left permanently injured, losing her right eye. Thomas’ two-year-old son was unharmed.
Police quickly identified the suspects, noting that witnesses were familiar with the Anderson brothers and Mackey. Within a week, all three were in custody. Earlier this year, Mattarion Anderson was convicted of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child following a bench trial.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Mackey accepted a plea deal in April, pleading guilty to residential burglary and receiving a 10-year sentence. Mattavius Anderson’s sentence mirrors that of Mackey, though slightly longer at 15 years.
He received credit for two-and-a-half years already served and will be eligible for day-for-day credit, potentially cutting his sentence in half for good behavior. The Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office has not yet commented on the plea agreement or the evidence that led to the final conviction.