UPDATED 4:15p
The ex-girlfriend of a man found shot to death in Kenosha last week has been arrested in Seattle.
50 year-old Donna Matthews is expected to be charged with Party to the Crime of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of Michael Gayan, according to a Wednesday morning news release from the Kenosha Police Dept. Gayan's decomposed body was found in a home where he lived part-time about a block west of Eichelman Park.
On Monday, Matthews' brother, Derrick, appeared in Kenosha court to face an identical charge. Until Donna moved to Hawaii, the siblings apparently shared a duplex located about a block from the murder scene.
In court Monday, a prosecutor said Derrick Matthews made a limited confession. He purportedly admitted to providing the murder weapon and giving the shooter rides to and from Gayan's home, but he denied being present for the shooting. At the Monday hearing, no clue was given as to the identity of the suspected shooter.
It's not known whether prosecutors believe Donna Matthews actually fired the gun, or whether any other suspects are being sought. As of Wednesday morning, no criminal complaints had been filed.
According to Facebook posts and court documents, Donna Matthews and Gayan had a stormy six year-long relationship that hit one of many bumps just before Matthews went to court in July of last year to seek a restraining order against Gayan.
Matthews wrote in a court petition that she didn't feel safe with Gayan around, and that Gayan was "emotionally angry over the break-up."
For his part, Gayan accused Matthews of drinking almost every night until she passed out, then not remembering what had happened. "Donna is very, very short-tempered," he wrote in response to Matthews' petition. But he also said, "deep down she is a good and beautiful person."
By the end of the year, the two were back together again, living in Hawaii. A few months later, though, the relationship had soured again, with an angry Gayan posting unflattering photos of Matthews on his Facebook page, including some that appeared to show Matthews using cocaine. Screen shots of racy, sexually-oriented text messages between the two were also on display for all to see. The account was not locked down.
Not much is know about Gayan---the incomplete picture is one of a monied property owner who didn't seem to have to work for a living and who had a penchant for travel. He told a neighbor that he had a son living in the state of Washington.
Matthews was a bartender, whose recent jobs included a stint at a Lake County golf course.
It's not clear when Gayan was shot, but a neighbor said she last saw him around the Fourth of July.
No word on whether Donna Matthews will fight extradition back to Wisconsin. Derrick Matthews is due back in Kenosha court on Thursday.
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