Matthew Reeves was born on December 13, 1977, in Selma, Alabama. He grew up in a challenging environment and faced many difficulties early in life. Reeves had intellectual disabilities, and his IQ was measured to be in the 60s. This meant that he struggled with everyday tasks and often had difficulty understanding things that many people find simple.

On November 27, 1996, Matthew Reeves and his friends planned to rob a drug dealer. Their car broke down in Selma, Alabama. A man named Willie Johnson Jr. offered to tow their car to Reeves' house with his pickup truck. Reeves rode in the bed of the truck. When they reached the house, Reeves took out a shotgun and shot Johnson through the truck's window. He then stole money from him. That evening, after the murder, Reeves mocked Johnson's death at a party. The next day, Johnson's body was found in his truck.

Reeves was arrested within a few hours of the murder. Two of his accomplices were caught a few days later. One of these accomplices was Reeves' brother. Both accomplices said that Reeves was the one who pulled the trigger.

On July 20, 1998, Reeves was sentenced to death. His brother received a life sentence without parole, and a third accomplice received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Reeves' lawyers argued that his legal team had not represented him well during the trial and should have shown that he was intellectually disabled. In 2021, the United States Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling that had canceled Reeves' death sentence.

On November 18, 2021, the Alabama Supreme Court scheduled Reeves' execution for January 27, 2022. Soon after, Reeves filed a lawsuit delaying the execution, claiming that the state did not accommodate his disability when asking how he wished to die. This lawsuit was appealed multiple times. Ultimately, the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed.

Matthew Reeves was executed by lethal injection on January 27, 2022, at the age of 44. He was pronounced dead at 9:24 p.m. He did not make any final statements or request a last meal. Some family members of Willie Johnson Jr. were present at the execution and expressed that justice had been served.