Award-winning playwright Olivia Matthews killed in Atlanta fire police say was set intentionally

Authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, are seeking information after a mysterious fire claimed the life of a playwright on the rise. 

The theater world is mourning after an award-winning playwright on the rise was killed in an apartment fire in Smyrna, Georgia, authorities believe was set intentionally. 

On Wednesday, September 3, Smyrna Police and Fire responded to an apartment fire where they discovered the body of 32-year-old Olivia Matthews, according to a post by Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta. 

The authorities also determined that Matthews had injuries unrelated to the fire and that security cameras had vanished just before the incident occurred. The case is currently being investigated as a homicide. An initial reward of $5,000 has since been increased to $10,000.  

“The Smyrna Police Department is asking anyone with information to come forward,” reads the post.

Matthews, who hailed from Clearmont, Florida, was a transplant to the Greater Atlanta area and an illustrious writer. Her work, which included the plays “The Nativity Story Starring Keisha Taylor” and “Absentia,” have been seen on stages in various cities, including Atlanta, New York, Houston, Miami, Omaha, and more. 

Her play, “Absentia,” was the 2020 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award and is a 2022 Wayward Voices Panel Favorite. Meanwhile, in April, “The Nativity Story Starring Keisha Taylor,” which tells the story of a teen who is cast in her church’s Nativity Story instead of her “fast” friend, was named a 2025 Eugene O’Neill Center National Playwrights Conference Finalist.

“My characters are working against people and situations seemingly immovable or inescapable but ultimately, they find the strength in themselves to push until something, or someone, breaks,” she wrote in her artistic statement about her writing. “And more often than not, that strength also comes from those family and community members they once felt stifled by. My characters are independent and bold but are a part of a much larger, loving whole.”

In the aftermath of her death, tributes from friends and family have begun to pour in. 

“Liv was perfect, and I can’t imagine why somebody would want to harm her,” Daisy Bentley, a friend of Matthews, told WSBTV. 

In the comments of a recent Instagram post, another wrote, “You are so loved, and you will be missed. You’re my friend always and forever, and an unforgettable soul. Rest easy, Liv.”  

Other close friends of Matthews also shared with WSBTV that she loved purple, was known for her sense of style, and was passionate about her writing and film. They also felt that Matthews would want anyone touched by this tragedy to channel their pain into their creativity.