DETROIT – A man who was just released from prison last year is facing a new charge after he posted public pictures of a gun on his Instagram account and chatted about being drunk during a crash in Detroit, officials said.
Trevon Mathis, 23, is facing a charge of felon in possession of a firearm, according to a criminal complaint that was filed Dec. 8 and unsealed later in the month.
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Mathis pleaded guilty on May 18, 2016, to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation and a felony firearm violation. The charges were linked to an incident from Nov. 4, 2015, according to court records.
He was sentenced Dec. 12, 2017, to two and a half to 10 years in prison for the assault charge and two years in prison for the felony firearm violation.
Mathis was released from the Michigan Department of Corrections on May 6, 2021, records show.
Gun posted on Instagram
An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives began monitoring Mathis’ public Instagram account after his release. In the criminal complaint, she described some of the posts and stories she saw.
On July 30, 2022, Mathis posted a picture of a Glock firearm in front of some Michigan Lottery tickets to his public Instagram story with the caption, “Name your price,” the agent said.
When she searched the serial number on the Glock, the ATF agent learned it was a model 17 Gen. 5 9 mm pistol that had been purchased on April 27, 2021, from a business in Wixom.
On Aug. 16, 2022, the agent saw an Instagram Live story posted to Mathis’ account that showed him in a Jeep Wrangler with his sister and others. They ended up at or near the Detroit riverfront, where Mathis posted a public story that said, “HEY NAW JUST CHILLING WITH MY GLOCK,” according to authorities.
The agent checked Mathis’ sister’s Instagram account and saw a story from Aug. 16 that showed Mathis in possession of a Glock firearm. Mathis was driving the Jeep Wrangler, and there were at least two women and one other man inside, officials said.
Mathis was brandishing the firearm, the criminal complaint says.
Crash on the Lodge
Officials said on Aug. 16, Mathis posted a public story on his Instagram account that said, “BRO I JUST GOT IN AH BAD A-- ACCIDENT CRASHED OUT.”
An Instagram Live story from his sister showed her in a hospital room and had the caption, “In so much pain Bored honestly,” authorities said.
Michigan State Police said the crash happened around 5:45 p.m. Aug. 16 on the Lodge at Jefferson Avenue in Detroit.
A 2021 Jeep Wrangler had gone off the roadway to the left and crashed into a concrete barrier, police said. The Jeep rolled over and came to rest on its roof, according to authorities.
Police said the occupants of the Jeep left the scene and went to the hospital.
“The occupants were not cooperative with law enforcement and would not identify the driver,” police said. “In addition, a pistol was discovered under the vehicle on the scene. The firearm recovered on the scene was a Glock.”
Officials said there were three women and one man in the Jeep: Mathis’ 21-year-old sister, another 21-year-old woman, a 36-year-old man, and a 28-year-old woman. His sister was in the front passenger seat and the others were in the second-row seats, the police report said.
“The driver of the vehicle was not located at the scene,” the agent wrote in the criminal complaint. “Based on my training, experience, and knowledge about the investigation, including the above-referenced social media posts, I believe that Trevon Mathis, who currently has a suspended Michigan driver’s license, and who was depicted as the driver of the vehicle shortly before the crash, fled the scene of the accident before police arrived.”
Stolen Glock
The ATF agent learned Aug. 25 that a Glock Model G19 Gen. 4 9 mm handgun registered to a resident on Prevost Street in Detroit had been stolen.
Mathis’ home is about 200 feet from that gun owner’s home, according to the criminal complaint.
On Aug. 26, Mathis posted an Instagram story that said, “G19 Brand new,” the ATF agent said.
“Based on my training, experience, and knowledge about the investigation, I believe that Mathis is stating that he obtained a new Glock model G19 pistol,” she wrote. “This is the same make and model pistol that was lost after the car accident and recovered by law enforcement on Aug. 16, 2022.”
Instagram chats
In December 2022, the agent received a search warrant to review private messages between Mathis and other Instagram users, according to authorities.
“I observed numerous messages during which Mathis provided details related to the car accident on Aug. 16, 2022, and explained he was intoxicated and took his eyes off the road,” she wrote.
On Aug. 16, someone messaged Mathis, “D--- we’re y’all going?” Mathis responded, “Downtown…River walk ok drunk now,” the complaint says.
Someone messaged Mathis on Aug. 16 about the crash and he responded, “Man my sister man.” The other user asked, “Y’all crashed into somebody?” and Mathis said, “Man into the wall,” according to officials.
Mathis told another user that, “I was in the jeep,” the agent reports. She said he told another user that, “I was on the lodge.”
“Man took my eyes off the rods to get (his sister) from standing up look back up I’m hitting the wall,” Mathis told another person, according to the criminal complaint.
On Aug. 17, someone sent Mathis a message that said, “What’s wrong with her I see the accident I didn’t know how injury you was if you posting it.” Mathis replied, “Man i f----- up ah lil but she flew out the car so she scrapped up bad,” the agent said. “I never went to the (hospital). She did, (another person), (another person), and this other girl did.”
Someone asked him on Aug. 17, “You good?” Mathis said, “Man yeha I’m straight now” and “That’s what I crashed,” according to authorities. Officials said the other person asked, “What happen u was flying?” and Mathis said, “Nope took my eyes off the ride to grab my sister got to second.”
Charge
On Dec. 3, an ATF expert examined screenshots of Mathis’ Instagram stories from July 30 and Aug. 16. He said the photos showed a gun consistent with the characteristics of a Glock.
The criminal complaint concludes there’s probable cause that Mathis knowingly and intentionally possessed a firearm despite being a convicted felon who spent more than a year in prison.
