Matthew Stone Sr. and the 2026 Erie Family Massacre
Overview
On the afternoon of Friday, October 9, 2026, a quiet street in Erie, Pennsylvania, became the scene of a horrific familicide. Inside and outside a home at 722 Perry Street, Matthew Stone Sr., 45, shot and killed eight people before taking his own life. The victims included his wife, their three adult children, two of his young grandchildren, his sister-in-law, and a family friend. One of his daughters was eight months pregnant. The massacre, carried out with a .40-caliber handgun, was the culmination of years of domestic control and abuse that had isolated the family and left them in squalor. The investigation that followed painted a grim picture of a family living under the thumb of an authoritarian patriarch, and a daughter who was planning her escape.
The Attack on Perry Street
The tragedy began to unfold shortly before 5 p.m. At 4:39 p.m., Angelina Stone, 24, made a call via Facebook Messenger to her aunt, Lora Roberts. In the brief exchange, Roberts told her niece that she was on her way. Roberts, 37, and a friend, Twila Tanner, 51, soon arrived at the Perry Street home in a Honda SUV.
Doorbell camera footage captured the two women pounding on the front door. Investigators believe that muffled gunshots had already been fired inside the house before their arrival. Matthew Stone Sr. emerged from the house and called out to the women. As they ran toward him, he shot and killed both of them in the street. He then went back inside the two-story residence.
At 4:52 p.m., the city's ShotSpotter gunshot detection system registered the shots, and police were dispatched. The first officers arrived on the scene within three minutes to find the bodies of Roberts and Tanner outside. Believing a shooter might still be active inside, they established a perimeter around the home.
A SWAT team was called to the scene. Officers reported hearing no cries for help and seeing no movement from within the locked and shuttered house. Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah later described the scene as being met with an "eerie silence." After securing a search warrant, the SWAT team forced entry into the home at 7:12 p.m. The scene inside was one of unimaginable carnage.
On the first floor, they discovered the bodies of Stone's two grandchildren: a 5-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl. In a stairwell leading to the second floor, they found four more victims: Stone's wife, Michelle, 44; his pregnant daughter, Angelina, 24; and his sons, Matthew Jr., 21, and Jonathan, 19. On the second floor, officers found the body of Matthew Stone Sr. He had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The .40-caliber handgun, which was registered to him, was found nearby. Investigators determined that all eight victims had been killed before the first police officers arrived.
The Victims
The shooting extinguished the lives of eight people, spanning three generations of a family and a caring friend who had rushed to help.
- Michelle Stone, 44 — She was the wife of the shooter, Matthew Stone Sr., and the sister of victim Lora Roberts. Family members said her husband had isolated her from friends and family for years.
- Angelina K. Stone, 24 — The daughter of Matthew and Michelle, she was a mother of two and was eight months pregnant, due to be induced just three days after she was killed. She had been planning to leave the home with her children after giving birth and had expressed concerns about her father's declining mental health.
- Matthew Stone Jr., 21 — He was the son of Matthew and Michelle Stone. His sister Angelina had reported that their father was physically abusive toward him and his brother.
- Jonathan Stone, 19 — The youngest son of Matthew and Michelle Stone. He was killed alongside his mother and siblings in the second-floor stairwell.
- A 5-year-old boy — Angelina Stone's son and Matthew Stone Sr.'s grandson. His name was withheld by authorities under state law. He was found on the first floor of the home.
- A 1-year-old girl — Angelina Stone's daughter, just 22 months old. Her name was also withheld by authorities. She was found deceased on the first floor with her brother.
- Lora Lee Roberts, 37 — Michelle Stone's sister. She had rushed to the home with Twila Tanner after receiving a call from her niece, Angelina. She was shot and killed outside the house.
- Twila A. Tanner, 51 — A friend who accompanied Lora Roberts to the home. She was the only victim not related to the Stone family and was killed outside with Roberts.
The Perpetrator: A History of Control
Matthew Stone Sr. was described by police as a controlling and authoritarian patriarch. According to family members who spoke with investigators, his domineering behavior began after his wife, Michelle, became pregnant with their first child more than two decades earlier. He exercised strict control over the family's finances, including government income received for one of his grandchildren. He restricted when family members could leave the residence and who they could see, effectively cutting Michelle off from her friends.
In 2019, Stone was arrested and charged in a domestic violence incident for threatening his wife with the same .40-caliber handgun he would later use in the massacre. However, the charges were withdrawn at a preliminary hearing after Michelle Stone changed her original statement to police. There were no other official domestic violence reports, and Stone had no criminal history that would have prevented him from legally owning the firearm.
Family members also reported concerns about Stone's mental health and suspected substance abuse. While detectives found drug paraphernalia in the home after the shooting, they could not definitively establish what role drugs or a specific mental health diagnosis played in the murders.
Warning Signs and Motive
Investigators uncovered clear signs that the family was in deep crisis. A year before the shooting, on October 9, 2025, Angelina Stone had filed a petition to change her last name. In the affidavit, she cited concerns about her father's "declining mental health" and a desire to pursue a medical career without being associated with him. The application was closed in April 2026.
More recently, Angelina had sent messages to others indicating her plan to leave the home after her baby was born. She said her father had been physically abusive to her brothers and was kicking them out. When police searched her bedroom after the murders, they found her belongings packed in numerous bags and boxes, confirming her intent to flee.
Despite the extensive history of control and abuse, and Angelina's desperate plans to escape, police could not establish a definitive motive for the massacre. The catalyst that pushed Matthew Stone Sr. to murder his entire family on that specific day remains unknown.
Investigation and Aftermath
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah described the crime scene as "horrific" and the worst he had ever experienced in his career. The investigation revealed the deplorable conditions the family had been living in. Detectives described the home as "extremely filthy," with a non-working shower, toilet, and kitchen sink. Numerous two-liter soda bottles filled with urine were found throughout the house, and the water service had an outstanding balance of $1,900.
In the days following the shooting, public officials expressed their grief and shock. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro called the incident a "mass shooting" and said his heart broke for the family. Erie Mayor Daria Devlin acknowledged the difficult questions the tragedy raised for the community. "Were there opportunities to recognize that this family was struggling?" she asked at a press conference. "Were there places where our systems could have responded differently? And how do we make sure that families in this community who are suffering and struggling like this don’t fall through the cracks?"
The city worked with crisis services and behavioral health providers to offer support to residents and the victims' extended family. As the community mourned, a memorial of flowers and stuffed animals grew outside the yellow crime-scene tape that cordoned off the house on Perry Street, a silent testament to the eight lives violently stolen in a place that should have been safe.
