Triangle Ended in Violence, Police Say

Woman Had Dated Victim and Suspect

Lauren A. Proctor had been romantically involved with both Joseph Lavelle Thompson and Nathan Everett Matthews, each of whom had fathered one of her children, Prince George's County police said.

That triangle metastasized into a lethal mix Wednesday morning, officers said, when Thompson, 35, of Hyattsville, banged on the door of the home where Proctor was staying in the 2200 block of Vermont Avenue in Kentland.

Proctor, who had recently moved out of the home she had been sharing with Thompson, called 911, and Prince George's sheriff's deputies were dispatched. But Matthews arrived first, police said.

After a struggle near the front door, Matthews shot Thompson multiple times, according to a police report. The report says that Matthews gave county police homicide detectives a statement admitting his involvement and told investigators where to find the .22-caliber handgun used in the shooting.

Matthews, 25, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He is scheduled to have a bond hearing today, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office said.

Neither Proctor nor relatives of Thompson or Matthews could be reached yesterday.

No one answered the door at the home where the shooting occurred. A small pool of dried blood was visible on a concrete walkway, near the front porch. A woman who answered the door at the home where Matthews apparently lived declined to comment.

Thompson and Matthews knew each other but had no reported history of animosity, said a law enforcement source who declined to be identified because the case is unresolved.

From the home where he was living a block away, Matthews apparently saw Thompson banging on the door of the home where Proctor was and rushed over, the source said.

Proctor had been living with Thompson in the Hyattsville area but left because they had been fighting, the police report says. A police spokeswoman said there was no indication that Proctor had sought or obtained a protective order against Thompson.

Thompson was facing assault charges stemming from an incident Oct. 12. According to a statement of charges, Thompson was suspected of assaulting a woman in a New Carrollton liquor store.

According to the charging document, video from the store's security camera shows Thompson trying to talk to the woman, who attempted to ignore him. The video shows Thompson crowding the woman, who pushed Thompson away.

Thompson struck the woman in the "left shoulder facial area." She pushed him, and he struck her in the face and knocked her to the ground, the charging document says.

Thompson was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 29 in District Court on charges of second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

Staff researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.