DECATUR, IL – Grief still lingers in a Decatur neighborhood more than a year after gunfire shattered a home, leaving a young pregnant mother and her unborn child dead, and forever altering the life of her small daughter. Now, after months of legal twists, one of the accused shooters will avoid a murder conviction by accepting a plea deal.
Mattavius Anderson, 21, stood accused of a shooting in April 2023 that devastated three generations of a local family. On Monday, just before trial, Anderson pleaded guilty to a single count of residential burglary. The agreement led to the dismissal of all other accusations, including murder and aggravated battery. He received a 15-year sentence and credit for time served in jail.
According to investigators, a tangled web of social media exchanges on Snapchat sparked the violence. Authorities say Anderson, his brother Mattarion, and an associate, Tarlan Mackey, armed themselves and traveled to a residence on North Woodford Street, where Ja’Niah Thomas, 20, her two children, and her boyfriend were spending the evening.
When Thomas’s boyfriend stepped outside to address the group over the heated online conflict, chaos erupted. Gunshots tore through the house. Thomas, who was 26 weeks pregnant, tried to shield her children as bullets struck the living room. She and her four-year-old daughter were both wounded. Thomas died at the scene, as did her unborn baby, while her young daughter sustained a gunshot wound that robbed her of an eye. Miraculously, her two-year-old son was not physically harmed.
In the days that followed, family and friends described Thomas as a loving mother with a contagious laugh and a passion for music. The pain, compounded by the loss of her baby girl, weighed heavily on the Decatur community. Neighbors set up fundraisers to help support the wounded child, now facing life with permanent injuries.
Prior to the plea agreement, Anderson faced the possibility of a life sentence if proven guilty at trial. Court records reveal he had already chosen to have his case heard by a judge, not a jury, originally preparing for a bench trial. But the proceedings shifted course when he accepted the state’s offer.
The legal fallout didn’t end with Anderson. His brother, Mattarion, took his case to trial and was convicted of murder in May, drawing a 40-year prison term. Mackey, meanwhile, opted for a deal similar to Mattavius Anderson, pleading guilty to residential burglary and receiving a 10-year sentence.
As the criminal cases reach a conclusion, the family left behind still struggles to come to terms with the tragedy. Ja’Niah Thomas is remembered not only as a mother but as a young woman filled with dreams and hopes, who worked as a forklift operator to provide for her loved ones.
The swift chain of events—from a digital argument to deadly gunfire—has reignited concerns about how online conflicts can take brutal turns. Prosecutors say a relative of the Andersons later reached out and apologized for the pain his family caused, but the scars in this Decatur neighborhood are likely to remain long after the legal battles are over.