The murder of Kamal Matthews
Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska · 1979
Overview
Seven-year-old Kamal Matthews and his 26-year-old mother, Deroshia Matthews, were found strangled in their north Omaha, Nebraska home on April 24, 1979, after relatives reported they had not been heard from. Decades later DNA preserved from the scene was matched through the national CODIS database to Abdulmalik Husain, formerly known as Louis Walker, whose genetic profile entered the database after a 2004 arrest in Colorado. After an earlier prosecution collapsed in 2005 over an evidence-handling error, investigators retested the evidence with newer technology in 2021 and re-arrested Husain on February 12, 2025, charging him with two counts of murder.
How it was solved
On the morning of April 24, 1979, Omaha police responded to a report of a possible abduction and burglary near 42nd Avenue and Binney Street and found the house ransacked, with seven-year-old Kamal Matthews dead on a bedroom floor and his mother, Deroshia Matthews, dead in the basement. Both had been strangled with what authorities described as consistent with a rope or cord, and the mother had been sexually assaulted. The case went unsolved for 25 years. In January 2004 a man then known as Louis Walker was arrested in Aurora, Colorado on an unrelated burglary, and his DNA was entered into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), where it matched genetic evidence preserved from the 1979 scene. Walker was charged in 2004, but in 2005 the Douglas County Attorney's Office dismissed the case without prejudice after a clerical error involving the chain of custody of vaginal swabs cast doubt on whether evidence had moved between the Nebraska State Patrol lab and Omaha police as records indicated. In 2021 the Omaha Police Department's Cold Case Squad retested a preserved item with newer technology and determined it was sufficient. On February 12, 2025, the man, who had since changed his name to Abdulmalik Husain, was arrested again and charged with two counts of murder. He was denied bond and a preliminary hearing was set for March 21, 2025.
Sources
- Omaha Police make cold case arrest in 1979 murders of boy and his mother
“Officers responded on the morning of Tuesday, April 24, 1979, to a report of possible abduction and burglary near 42nd Avenue and Binney Street. They discovered the house ransacked, with the boy found on a bedroom floor and his mother in the basement.”
- Omaha man arrested again for 1979 cold case after the case was dismissed in 2005
“On April 24, 1979, police discovered 7-year-old Kamal Matthews and his mother, 26-year-old Deroshia Matthews, strangled in their home on Binney Street. ... In 2021, police retested evidence using updated technology. ... 'There was an item that was still in our evidence and 2021 we retested that item with new technology, and we determined that item was sufficient evidence.'”
- Man arrested in 1979 cold case deaths of a mother and her young son
“Both victims showed evidence of strangulation consistent with a rope or cord, a Douglas County judge stated in court. The mother had also been sexually assaulted. ... When Husain was arrested in Colorado in 2004 for an unrelated burglary, his DNA entered the national Combined DNA Index System. It matched evidence from the 1979 murder scene.”
- Omaha Police give more details about arrest in 1979 cold case double murder
“Abdulmalik Husain, 67 (formerly known as Louis Walker) ... had been previously arrested as Louis Walker in January 2004 in Aurora, Colorado on charges related to the Matthews deaths. ... Police confirmed that Husain and Matthews knew each other from a community event.”
- A mom and her child were killed in their Nebraska home 45 years ago. DNA helped authorities make an arrest in the cold case
“When Husain was arrested in Colorado in 2004 for an unrelated burglary, his DNA entered the national Combined DNA Index System. It matched evidence from the 1979 murder scene. However, charges were initially dismissed due to clerical error. In 2021, forensic advancements led investigators to reexamine key evidence, prompting his rearrest.”
- Police crack 1979 Omaha cold case, arrest man in slaying of woman and her son
“Police Chief Todd Schmaderer stated: 'Murders are never forgotten, and justice has no expiration date. The depraved nature of this double homicide -- one victim being a child -- was bound to receive our utmost attention.'”
- Bond denied for man arrested in 1979 Omaha cold case
“The judge denied bond for Husain on Thursday. ... He was arraigned under the name Louis Walker, which he used at the time of the crime. ... A preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 21 in Douglas County District Court. ... Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine stated: 'The prosecutor at that time, it seems, thought there was an issue with regards to some of the evidence and the production of that evidence.'”
- DNA helps lead to an arrest in the 1979 killings of an Omaha mother and her 7-year-old son
“On April 24, 1979, officers responded to a call at 4264 Binney Street and found Kamal and Deroshia Matthews dead. ... Abdulmalik Husain, 68, formerly known as Louis Walker, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder.”