An Erie man who fatally shot eight others, including seven family members, before killing himself had exercised strict control over his relatives, including their finances and interactions with others, police said Thursday.
Investigators still don’t know why family patriarch Matthew Stone Sr. gunned down his wife, their three children, two grandchildren and two women who had rushed to the home and were shot outside, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said at a news conference.
Lorah painted a picture of a family living in a home in isolated, filthy conditions. He said the authoritarian behavior of Stone, 45, started after his wife became pregnant with their first child more than two decades ago.
The adult victims of the Oct. 9 shooting previously were identified as Stone’s wife, Michelle Stone, 44; their daughter, Angelina Stone, 24, who was due to give birth Monday, three days after the shooting; sons Jonathan Stone, 19, and Matthew Stone Jr., 21; and two women who lived at other addresses: Lora Roberts, 37, and Twila Tanner, 51. Roberts was Michelle Stone’s sister.
A 5-year-old boy and a 22-month-old girl who were identified by relatives as Angelina Stone’s children also were killed. State law prevented authorities from releasing their names.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook on Oct. 13 said Stone’s unborn child is counted as the victim of homicide, even though the office does not have a separate report on the child’s death.
Family members told detectives that the elder Stone “restricted when family members could leave the residence or spend time with relatives,” Lorah said. In addition, Michelle Stone “stopped maintaining contact with friends.”
The elder Stone also kept a tight grip over the family’s money, including supplemental government income received for one of the grandchildren, Lorah said.
In 2019, Stone was arrested and charged with threatening his wife with the same .40-caliber handgun that he used in the Oct. 9 shootings. However, at a preliminary hearing, Michelle Stone “changed her original statement and those charges were withdrawn,” Lorah said.
A year ago, daughter Angelina filed a petition to change her last name, citing concerns about the elder Stone’s “declining mental health,” according to Lorah. She had planned to pursue a career in medicine and didn’t want her last name associated with her father. But that application was closed in April 2026.
Angelina Stone posted ultrasound photos of her unborn child on social media on Sept. 25. Lorah said she had been sending messages to others indicating she was going to leave the home after giving birth. She also said her father had been physically abusive toward her brothers. After the shootings, detectives found bags and boxes that were packed in Angelina Stone’s bedroom.
Detectives described conditions in the home as “extremely filthy.” A shower, toilet and kitchen sink didn’t appear to be working, and there were numerous soda bottles filled with urine throughout the house. Water service remained active but had an outstanding balance of $1,900, the chief said.
During their search, detectives also found drug paraphernalia, “but we cannot establish what role, if any, mental health or substance use played in the shooting,” Lorah said.
Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before Roberts and Tanner arrived and began pounding on the door. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran toward him, before returning inside. Tanner was the only nonrelative killed, Lorah said.
As circumstances of the family’s living conditions and history came to light, Mayor Daria Devlin said some difficult questions, too, have surfaced.
“Were there opportunities to recognize that this family was struggling?” Devlin said. “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?
“We cannot assume that any one intervention could have prevented what happened on Friday. But that can’t stop us from examining where each one of us can do better.”
