Mom, 7-year-old found dead in home in 1979, Nebraska cops say. Now, an arrest is made
In 1979, a 26-year-old mother and her 7-year-old son were found slain in their Nebraska home after concerned family and friends reported them missing.
Nearly 46 years later, the man believed to be responsible for the deaths of Deroshia and Kamal Matthews has been arrested, according to the Omaha Police Department.
Abdulmalik Husain, 67, formerly known as Louis Walker, was arrested Feb. 12 on two counts of murder and booked at Douglas County Department of Corrections, police said.
Husain was arrested for the same crime in 2004, but the case was dismissed the following year, KETV reported.
The recent arrest comes after “several years” of following up on leads and DNA testing, authorities said.
“Murders are never forgotten, and justice has no expiration date,” Omaha Police Department Chief Todd Schmaderer said in a statement. “The depraved nature of this double homicide—one victim being a child—was bound to receive our utmost attention. Our commitment to these victims and their family never wavered.”
On April 24, 1979, police found Deroshia and Kamal dead inside their home after family and friends said it was “unusual” they had not seen or heard from them, according to the cold case file.
Deroshia studied music and psychology at Jackson State University. She tutored, taught music lessons, and worked as a crossing guard at Kamal’s school where he was a second-grade student, according to police files.
Kamal liked to read comics and ride his bike. He and his mother had a paper route delivering the Omaha World-Herald, records show.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Mom, 7-year-old found dead in home in 1979, Nebraska cops say. Now, an arrest is made."
