In the fall of 2018, a young life was tragically cut short in Hephzibah, Georgia. Six-year-old Eugene Ryder Stamey, a male child, died on Monday, November 5, 2018, from a gunshot wound to the chest. A boy described as fun-loving and who enjoyed music and dancing, his death brought an abrupt and violent end to a life that was just beginning.
The incident unfolded inside a Hephzibah home where officers were dispatched following a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered the young boy with a grave injury. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but did not survive. The investigation that followed pointed to a deliberate act of violence rather than an accident.
Authorities identified the suspect as 32-year-old Benjamin Goodson, who was the boyfriend of Eugene's mother. The Richmond County Sheriff's Office determined that Goodson had pointed a shotgun at the child and pulled the trigger. When the weapon failed to discharge on the first attempt, he pulled the trigger a second time, firing the fatal shot that struck the boy in the chest.
While Goodson's family contended that the shooting was an accident that occurred while he was playing a 'zombie' game with the children, the sheriff's office pursued a different conclusion. Goodson was subsequently arrested and faced charges of murder and cruelty to a child. The tragic event left a family heartbroken and a community in mourning for a young boy whose life was taken in a senseless act.
