KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former Shawnee youth pastor has been sentenced to more than 29 years in prison for stabbing his family and setting his home on fire.
Matthew Lee Richards was sentenced Wednesday, March 26, to 188 months for Attempted First Degree Murder and 165 months for attempted first-degree murder. The sentences are to run consecutively for a total of 353 months, or more than 29 years.
Richards pleaded guilty to the chargeson February 11, 2025.
Richards stabbed his four kids and his wife, and then set their home on fire in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2023, in the 6600 block of Goode Drive in Shawnee.
Richards' children — four juveniles and a 19-year-old at the time — and his wife were injured and hospitalized in the incident.
The former youth pastor told investigators he committed the violence because of pending eviction, according to an affidavit.
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