The conclusion of a manhunt that stretched across multiple states came to a somber end in a Jacksonville hotel room as Kevin Matthews, the fugitive accused of a double homicide at a Knoxville bar, died by suicide when cornered by law enforcement, as WBIR reports. As communicated by the U.S. Marshals Service, Matthews, who was 40, chose to end his life after authorities closed in on his motel refuge yesterday.

Earlier in the month, on July 2, Knoxville's The Pint House became a crime scene when 28-year-old Zachery Herrera and 41-year-old John Goosie were fatally shot, an incident in which Matthews along with an accomplice, Steven Davis, were implicated; Davis was apprehended shortly after in a gas station parking lot while Matthews fled, initiating the chase that led to his Florida hideout, according to WATE.

The violent encounter outside The Pint House left not only Herrera and Goosie dead but also resulted in minor injuries to a third individual, a woman who sustained a grazing wound, during the early hours of July 3; the U.S. Marshals' prolonged pursuit culminated when Matthews, after being ordered to surrender by the officers who had surrounded his hotel room, responded with a single, fatal gunshot, as First Coast News detailed.

Investigative sources conveyed to WBIR that the violence erupted after Matthews and Davis confronted Herrera, who worked as a security guard at the bar, followed by Goosie's attempted intervention, before Matthews fatally discharged his firearm at both men; Matthews, with a criminal background consisting of aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, and burglary, was to face charges of first-degree murder prior to his death. Davis, on the other hand, remains in custody facing assault and parole violation charges, shadowed by the grim truth that his alleged partner in crime has escaped the judicial process through a self-imposed exit.