ROANOKE, VA – Jesse Matthew, the man convicted of killing two Virginia college students, has been transferred to a lower security prison.
The move comes 10 years after Matthew pled guilty to the murders of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington and UVA student Hannah Graham.
The Virginia Department of Corrections tells 10 News this transfer still meets Jesse Matthew’s security needs - but for Morgan Harrington’s parents, it’s a difficult and emotional update.
“When news like this surfaces, you go right back down the rabbit hole again,” Gil Harrington, Morgan’s mom, said.
“We live it day to day,” Dan Harrington, Morgan’s dad, said.
That’s the reality for Gil and Dan after learning Jesse Matthew has been moved to a lower security prison.
“I really had, not fear, but some disquiet,” Gil said.
Matthew was moved on March 6 from Red Onion State Prison - the state’s most secure, ‘supermax’ facility - to the Keen Mountain Correctional Center.
While Keen Mountain is maximum security, it is a lower level.
“He has, for the three crimes that he’s committed, seven life sentences. It does seem strange to me that they would reduce him to a lower level,” Dan said.
The Harringtons say they were notified before Matthew was moved, but it still took them by surprise.
“I am unsure the reason behind his change in status. I hope very much it is not a plan for some sort of rehabilitation for him,” Gil said.
For the Harringtons, moments like this don’t just raise questions - they reopen wounds.
“I have new understanding of PTSD. We are always very aware our daughter is no longer with us. He [Matthew] is an apex predator. He started violent crimes, assaults and rapes at a young age, and I don’t think he can change,” Gil said.
10 News reached out to the Virginia Department of Corrections and asked why Matthew was moved.
They did not answer that question, but responded: “This facility meets the inmate’s security needs, along with meeting the safety and security of our corrections team and the incarcerated population.”
Now, Gil and Dan say they want to use this moment to bring renewed attention to Morgan’s story - and to their work through Help Save The Next Girl.
“I always tell people that Morgan was like champagne. She was fun, she was bubbly, and when she was around it was time to celebrate. Because of all of the things we have done in her honor, all the good things we have made come from her abbreviated life, it has taken some of the bitterness and sorrow away,” Gil said.
Gil and Dan say they aren’t motivated by hatred, but by their love of Morgan, and their desire to keep other girls safe.
“I think if we did devolve into hatred, we would become the very thing that we are working against, and we have never gone that path,” Gil said.
Matthew was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and temporarily moved for treatment, but had been back at Red Onion for several years.