On the evening of June 30, 2024, Washington, Missouri, police responded to a 911 call from a home in the 1500 block of East 8th Street and found 31-year-old Matthew M. Lackey dead from a gunshot wound. The caller and person present at the scene was the victim’s wife, Samantha N. Lackey, who reportedly admitted to dispatchers and officers that she had shot her husband after a domestic dispute.

Investigators say the couple had been arguing after she returned from work and that Samantha Lackey told detectives she had been assaulted, threatened verbally, and feared for her safety. Police reported inconsistencies in her statements and said physical evidence did not fully match her description of being struck or held at gunpoint; she initially said Matthew held a weapon but later told officers he was not holding a gun when she retrieved her firearm and fired one fatal shot.

The Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney charged Samantha N. Lackey with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. She was processed and held without bond at the Franklin County Adult Detention Center pending legal proceedings. Does anyone have information about the couple or the events that evening that could help investigators?