Matthew S. Stone

Introduction

Matthew S. Stone was a 45-year-old Erie, Pennsylvania man whom his own family members named as the gunman in the October 9, 2026 murder-suicide at the family home on the 700 block of Perry Street, in which nine people died — eight victims and the gunman. Among the dead were Stone’s 24-year-old daughter, Angelina Stone, who was eight months pregnant and due to give birth within days; her 5-year-old son Isiah; her daughter Amari’anna, who was not yet two; and Angelina’s unborn child, whom family said she had planned to name Kyrie. Erie police have never publicly identified the shooter, saying only that a 45-year-old man was found dead on the home’s second floor with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and a firearm on his person; the Erie County coroner later counted the unborn child among the dead, bringing the toll, including the gunman, to ten.

The New York Post carried the story to its followers hours after the family went public: “Pregnant Pennsylvania mom was days away from giving birth before she was among 8 killed in gunman’s shooting rampage.”

Background Information

The Perry Street home, on Erie’s East Side, housed an extended family. Angelina Stone was a mother of two documenting her third pregnancy online: her Instagram profile recorded son Isiah Hodges born July 15, 2021, daughter Amari’anna born November 21, 2024, and — in a September 25 ultrasound post at 36 weeks — a baby due October 14, 2026. “Momma cant wait to hold you,” she wrote. Family members said the household also included the gunman’s adult son, Jonathan Antonio Stone, his sister, and the sister’s friend; Police Chief Rick Lorah said eight of the nine dead were related to the shooter, with the ninth a family friend.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Identified by family, not by police. Matthew S. Stone died at the scene and was never charged, and nothing about him has been adjudicated in court. Erie police say only that the suspected shooter was a 45-year-old man found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; they have not released any identities, confirmed the shooter’s relationship to the victims, or stated a motive. The identification of Stone as the gunman comes from his own family members and from reports citing them.

According to police, a ShotSpotter alert registered two gunshots at approximately 4:53 p.m. on Friday, October 9, in the 700 block of Perry Street. Officers arrived within minutes to find two women, aged 51 and 37, dead outside the residence. Video evidence and witness accounts indicate the two women had arrived at the home appearing distressed and were seeking help from neighbors when the gunman came outside and fatally shot them both; investigators believe the gunfire inside the home had already occurred by that point.

Unaware whether the shooter remained inside or whether children were in danger, officers sought a search warrant, deployed drones, and then sent SWAT officers through multiple breached doors with a robot assisting; sounds initially believed to be more gunfire were flash-bang devices and chemical munitions. When officers finally entered, everyone inside was already dead: a 5-year-old boy and a 1-year, 10-month-old girl on the first floor; a 24-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman and men aged 19 and 21 on the second floor and stairwell; and the suspected shooter — a 45-year-old man with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, a firearm recovered from his person. A .40-caliber registered handgun was reported on the gunman’s body. County Coroner Lyell Cook confirmed Saturday that the dead included Angelina Stone’s unborn child.

Police released no names. Angelina’s family did. Aaliyah Williams, the aunt of Angelina’s daughter, wrote in a GoFundMe for funeral costs: “Angelina’s father killed Angelina and her children in a murder-suicide, and now our family is facing the painful task of laying them to rest.” Juicesiyah Alexander Ezekiel, the father of toddler Amari’anna, said the gunman was Angelina’s father, Matthew Stone. Reports citing family members and social media identified the shooter as 45-year-old Matthew “Matt” S. Stone of Erie, and family members said the victims also included his son Jonathan Antonio Stone, his sister, and his sister’s visiting friend.

Public Reaction and Consequences

“This is more than our family can carry alone right now, and we truly need the community to rally around us,” the GoFundMe read, noting the family had two weeks to cover funeral expenses for Angelina, Isiah, Amari’anna and Kyrie. Family friend Lisa Simmers, who had been standing outside the home as it happened, told news stations the two young children “were on the spectrum. Innocent children, couldn’t have told on that man if they wanted to, and he still killed them.” Ezekiel, who survived a 2022 Erie homicide and had moved away, came back to grieve: “It was my baby, bro, and he just took her… I left Erie to stay away from that lifestyle, and I come back and lose my daughter, lose my baby mom, lose who I was fighting to stay alive for.” Mayor Daria Devlin addressed the families directly — “I am so deeply sorry” — and Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration offered its full support. The city coordinated trauma services with UPMC Crisis Services, AHN Behavioral Health, local schools and community organizations.

Current Status

The investigation remains ongoing. Police have not identified the gunman or the victims, have not discussed a motive, and say all eight victims and the suspected shooter were dead before officers entered the home. Chief Rick Lorah said he believes “mental health is at play here” but offered no motive, calling the scene “horrific… the worst scene I have ever experienced.” Because the suspected gunman died at the scene, no arrest or prosecution will follow; the official account of what happened inside the house will come from the coroner’s findings and the police investigation, both still in progress.

Impact on Their Career/Life

There will be no arrest, no trial and no sentence: the man his family named as the gunman died among his victims, and what remains is a coroner’s count and an investigation that may never publicly explain why. Eight members of one family and a family friend were killed at a single Perry Street home in under an hour — among them a pregnant mother days from delivery and two toddlers who, as a family friend put it, “couldn’t have told on that man if they wanted to.” The city’s trauma-response coordination for families, neighbors, students and first responders continues, with Mayor Devlin warning that “the need for support may emerge in the days, weeks, and months ahead.” For the officers who entered the house, Lorah’s own words set the measure of the case: the worst scene he had ever experienced.

Sources

New York Post, “Pennsylvania mom Angelina Stone was days away from giving birth before she was among 8 killed in Erie mass shooting,” Oct. 11, 2026 — source
Erie News Now, “Ten Dead, Including Two Children, in East Erie Shooting,” Oct. 10, 2026 — source
Scallywag & Vagabond, “Matthew Stone, Erie, PA gunman shoots & kills daughter Angelina Stone and her kids,” Oct. 10, 2026 — source
GoFundMe, “Funeral Support for Angelina and Her Children,” accessed Oct. 11, 2026 — source
@nypost on X, “Pregnant Pennsylvania mom was days away from giving birth before she was among 8 killed in gunman’s shooting rampage,” Oct. 11, 2026 — source