‘Kassadey was my heart, my soul’

WILKES-BARRE — Remembered as a bright, energetic, bubbly, and a fierce young woman, 17-year-old Kassadey Elizabeth Matulevich wanted to help others by becoming a nurse in her adult life.

Two years to the day when Matulevich was fatally shot inside her Butler Township home, Alan Jay Meyers, 19, admitted to the shooting by pleading guilty to third-degree murder in Luzerne County Court on Tuesday.

District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce who, along with assistant district attorneys Daniel Mulhern and Gerry Scott, presented a plea agreement reached with Meyers and his attorneys, Matthew T. Muckler and Theron Solomon.

President Judge Michael T. Vough accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Meyers to 20 to 40 years in state prison.

Before Meyers was sentenced, many family and friends of Matulevich spoke, describing the young woman and her attributes during a highly emotional hearing.

Matulevich was a cheerleader at Hazleton Area and was looking forward to her senior year and college that was taken away by a senseless act of violence.

One friend said she wrote Kassadey’s name on her arm during swimming competitions, while her grandmother said her granddaughter always called her at night to say “I love you and goodnight.”

Kassadey’s mother, Tracy Matulevich, said she experiences what she described as “being trapped in a tsunami of grief” as she is constantly reminded of her daughter whenever she receives mail in her daughter’s name from colleges or sees other mothers with their daughters hugging and laughing.

“Kassadey was my heart, my soul. Our lives have been forever ravaged,” Tracy Matulevich tearfully said, calling Kassadey a “shining star.”

Meyers’ parents tearfully apologized to Matulevich’s family and friends as they also will lose life experiences with their son.

Meyers was 17-years-old when Matulevich was killed.

Meyers’ attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to have the criminal case decertified and transferred to juvenile court.

Pennsylvania State Police at Hazleton and county detectives charged Meyers with fatally shooting Matulevich inside the teen’s bedroom of her home on Sand Hollow Drive. Matulevich’s mother was asleep in another bedroom and performed life-saving measures on her daughter after Meyers fled the house.

Meyers entered the house through a window unbeknown to Matulevich’s mother, court records say.

“No one should have to bury a 17-year-old,” Vough said, adding, “No one should see a 17-year-old being sentenced.”

Vough said he has been part of the criminal justice system for 33 years, as a prosecutor and judge, and sees a “disturbing pattern” of gun violence involving juveniles.

“Senseless, tragic; use whatever words you want to use,” Vough said.