Deadly home invasion: Mother to spend 10 years in jail for her involvement

AUSTIN, Texas - A victim opened fire in a self-defense shooting at their home. Now, a mother is set to spend 10 years behind bars for her involvement in the home robbery. It left one man dead in South Austin back in 2021.

20-year-old Joseph Noah Mathews moved from North Carolina to Austin and was in lineman school.

"Courageous and brave and fearless, yet humble and forgiving," Noah Mathews’ mother, Lisa Mathews, said.

"Just the sweetest thing," Noah Mathews’ aunt, Selena McNeil, said.

Through friends, Mathews was introduced to the Ruoff family.

"He would help her husband, Brad split wood, work on his truck and just had kind of, that feeling of family, I believe. Tiffany Ruoff, as it was exposed in court, is a woman that is toxic," Lisa Mathews said.

On April 26, 2021, Noah Mathews told Austin police investigators Tiffany Ruoff drove him, her 14-year-old daughter, and another man to a home in South Austin to rob the man who lived there.

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"She had told him that somebody stole a lot of her stuff and her money, and she needed help getting it back. My son, unfortunately, was not able to discern quite well, and all he heard was, I need help, and he helped her," Lisa Mathews said.

The homeowner told police that at a little before midnight, he heard a knock on the door. He looked through the peephole, couldn’t see anyone, and grabbed his revolver. He said when he went back to the door, someone kicked it in and knocked him to the ground. He then started firing shots, hitting Mathews, who fell to the ground.

Mathews was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

"Noah was not a resident of Texas, so he was unidentified for two days at St David's South Trauma Center," Lisa Mathews said.

Mathews said she called Ruoff to try to find out what happened, because she knew he had been shot, Mathews said she wasn’t receiving a straight answer from Ruoff.

"My final words to her were, somebody is lying to me, God help them when I find them," Lisa Mathews said.

Mathews flew from North Carolina to Austin, looking for her son and answers.

"We got to St. David’s and I went upstairs and Noah was on life support," Lisa Mathews said.

When Mathews died months later, a medical examiner found his cause of death was from a gunshot wound. The homeowner wasn’t charged. A capital murder warrant was filed from Ruoff.

Last month, Ruoff pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

During sentencing, the family of Mathews said a lot was revealed.

"He wasn't 100% innocent, and I'm going to say that, but he was way more innocent than what I ever thought," McNeil said.

"She had such manipulative power over these young kids that it's just, she's so toxic and so dangerous to this community," Lisa Mathews said, "Mothers and fathers need to know that they have got to protect their children."

Before Mathews passed, he made sure his mom knew something.

"He said, Mom, I need you to know that I forgive her. I said, that's good, and I'm thankful that you're in a place that you can forgive her. I said, but I'm your mama and, I'm sorry, I told him I wasn't there yet, and that I didn't know if I could ever be there," Mathews said.