Trial set for 2019 Valentine's Day murder case
Dec. 31—A murder trial is set for the coming week in the case of Matthew Kenton Pride, who is accused of strangling his estranged wife on Valentine's Day in 2019.
Pride has pleaded not guilty in connection with the death of Nicole Kennedy-Pride.
With the Hunt County Courthouse closed Monday due to the New Year's holiday, jury selection is set to begin Tuesday morning in the 196th District Court, according to defense attorney Russell Brooks.
He declined comment on the case other than to ask jurors to pay attention "and to make a decision based on the evidence."
A grand jury indictment alleges that Pride, 40, caused the death of Kennedy-Pride "by impeding the breathing of Nicole Pride by applying pressure to Nicole Pride's throat or neck."
The defendant remains in custody at the Hunt County Detention Center in lieu of $1 million bond on the murder charge.
According to Greenville police, Pride was inside Kennedy-Pride's Greenville residence when she was found deceased on the morning of Feb. 15, 2019.
Officers were dispatched shortly before 9 a.m. to an alarm call at Kennedy-Pride's business, Shear Pride Suites and Spa. Employees told police that they were attempting to contact her at her home in the 5600 block of Stonewall Street. Officers were dispatched to the location, where they found Matthew Pride inside. He reportedly was disoriented, had a blank stare on his face and did not answer questions, according to police. Pride was taken into custody after it was determined he had an active protective order against him that forbid him from being at or near the residence. A police report indicated that Matthew Pride needed help getting into a police vehicle and could not lift his legs or his body without assistance. He later admitted that he had been drinking alcohol, according to police.
An ambulance crew called to the residence found Kennedy-Pride in her bed, where she had been deceased for some time.
Surveillance footage and information obtained from Kennedy-Pride's cell phone and smart watch revealed she left a local restaurant at about 10 p.m. Feb. 14 and returned home a few minutes later. Data from the smart watch showed Kennedy-Pride had had no activity after her return home and the watch did not detect a heartbeat after approximately 10:05 p.m., according to police.
Pride was arrested for violation of the protective order and was released Feb. 17, 2019, on a $25,000 bond.
On March 1, investigators received an update from the Southwestern Institute on Forensic Sciences at Dallas, which listed homicide by strangulation as the cause of Nicole-Pride's death.
Matthew Pride was taken into custody on a murder charge on the afternoon of March 4.
Murder is a first-degree felony punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from five to 99 years to life in prison.
