Man charged with murder for allegedly killing his mother Friday in Phoenix

Published 5:09 pm Monday, May 15, 2023

A 28-year-old Grants Pass man was arrested over Mother’s Day weekend on suspicion of killing his mother, according to Oregon State Police.

Matthew Brian Winder is accused of killing Cheryl Sellers, 59, at a residence in Phoenix, OSP Capt. Kyle Kennedy confirmed Monday in an email. 

The agency is releasing few details, including a cause of death, but Kennedy wrote that authorities responded Friday to 610 N. Main St. in Phoenix regarding a domestic incident and that Winder was arrested on suspicion of murder.

According to police-dispatcher radio traffic, a man called 911 about 6:40 p.m. Friday to say that he had just stabbed his mother and was turning his car around to return to the scene. Police then conducted a traffic stop and arrested Winder at gunpoint.

Winder was arraigned Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court via an audio-visual link with the Jackson County Jail, where he was being held on a charge of second-degree murder. He is accused of “unlawfully and intentionally” killing Sellers, according to Kennedy.

Winder sat calmly and listened as Judge Paul Moser entered a plea of “not guilty” on his behalf and told him he was being held without bail pending a preliminary hearing set for 4 p.m. Monday, May 22.

Moser told Winder that a public defender’s office in Salem would be tapped to provide him with legal advice. A shortage of local public defenders is straining the criminal justice system in Jackson County.

“They’ll have to find somebody to take your case,” Moser told him.

“Thank you, your honor,” Winder said and then stepped away.

A search of state court records shows no criminal history for Winder.