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A life inspired, snatched away

Artist Robert Matunda died an innocent crime victim.

Maren Reese and 7-month-old son, Sage, in the Southwark home they shared with Matunda.
Maren Reese and 7-month-old son, Sage, in the Southwark home they shared with Matunda.Read more

Robert Matunda, 30, and Maren Reese, 26, were on their way. The young artists had dropped off their baby son at his grandmother's house, packed up their Honda Element with jewelry and textile creations they had worked on for months, and headed for a retail show in Chicago.

On that night of March 26, they left their home and studio on Reed Street in Southwark, made a few last-minute stops, and were chatting excitedly about their business, Letau Designs. They never made it out of South Philadelphia.

Shortly before 9 p.m., fate took their future when an Oldsmobile Aurora driven by a suspected drug dealer crashed into their car. Matunda, who was driving, was killed instantly, and Reese was seriously injured: 11 ribs were broken, and her liver, one kidney and her spleen were lacerated.

Reese, who was recuperating at her parents' home after being released from the hospital last week, returned to their home Tuesday for the first time since the accident.

She is now planning a celebration of Matunda's life at 2 p.m. Sunday in their home at 621 Reed St.

"I want everyone who loved Rob to come together in this space where he made his art and lived his life. I want them to bring food, speak if they wish, or play musical instruments to feel his presence."

The night of the accident will forever be in her memory, but for one day Reese wants to remember their good times.

Detective Sgt. James S. Schrack, who is in charge of the case, described the accident. "It sounded like a bomb went off when the two cars hit head-on at Seventh and Christian. The couple's belongings were scattered on the street. The only bright spot was that their baby was not in the car."

Nafeesah Riddick, 22, the driver of the Oldsmobile, was charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle, fleeing the police, aggravated conspiracy, and assorted drug and assault offenses, Schrack said. Her passenger, Alicia Brooks, 20, was charged with drug and criminal-conspiracy offenses.

"Every death is tragic, but this one was especially hurtful," said Rob Watson, a freelance journalist and former Inquirer staff writer, who was a longtime friend of Matunda's. "Matunda was a shining star in a progressive group of young black artists in the city. He had avoided violence and drugs, but they came crashing into his world."

Robert Matunda was born in Germantown. His parents divorced when he was young and he lived with his mother, who managed several apartment buildings. She taught Matunda to avoid the dangers of the streets and how to sew.

"When our mother died, I was 11," said Matunda's sister, Lanelle Lawson, a student at Community College of Philadelphia. "I was in the DHS system for a while. I saw people living lives I did not want for myself. Rob helped me stay out of trouble. He was smart and funny. We lost so much when Rob died."

"Rob was a driven artist. He was a free spirit who tried to catch every moment of life," said Gena Dudley, Matunda's West Philadelphia High School sweetheart and the mother of his two daughters, Mahalia and Aylah.

"He took responsibility for raising his daughters and was a good role model. He encouraged their art and even made their clothes."

While earning an associate degree in photography from the Art Institute of Philadelphia and making the rounds with his art to galleries and stores, Matunda preferred riding a bike to driving a car.

Two nights before his death, he had a nightmare "that we had been in a car accident, but he said, 'The baby was OK,' " said Reese.

Reese, who grew up in Bucks County, said, "Rob made a conscious choice in his life to follow his dream to be an artist. It was not easy."

The couple met two years ago. He was director of the former Zonk gallery in South Philadelphia, where he and gallery owner Eric Kephart displayed young artists' work. He worked various other jobs to support his daughters.

Reese, a 2002 graduate of Tyler School of Art, worked for Local 52 of the Screen Actors Guild as a costume designer for movies and television shows filmed in Philadelphia.

"Rob and I met over a delivery of vegetables," Reese said. "I gave him half of an order I bought from a farm cooperative, and he cooked for me. Eventually, we fell in love."

The couple lived in a stylish 2,000-square-foot loft on Reed Street that was once Buckley's Garage. "It was also a former design studio, so I bought the sewing machines and tables that were already here," said Reese.

They made jewelry, scarves, and African-inspired wall hangings in the three-bedroom loft.

"We worked constantly," Reese said. "Our business took off so quickly. Our work was featured in galleries, magazines, sold in stores and shows."

They were planning to be married when Reese got pregnant. "After Sage was born seven months ago, we were so busy with him and the business, there was no time to plan a wedding. We thought we were going be together forever."

Looking around the loft where she lived and worked with Matunda, she said, "It feels as if the life has been sucked out of this place."

Colorful bolts of cloth were piled high, seven sewing machines sat silent, a huge work table was loaded with artists' tools. Matunda's African wall hangings - many with faces - stood witness. And there, in the middle of the room, amid the pile of mangled clothing, personal belongings, bags of jewelry and cameras that had been in their mangled car, was a man's single boot.

To Donate

Donations to help educate Matunda's children may be made to Maren Reese, Wachovia Bank, 1400 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia 19147.

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