In the quiet suburbs of Suwanee, Georgia, a heartbreaking story unfolded that ended the life of a young boy. Eight-year-old Jared Smith, a male, became a victim of a horrific act of violence on July 22, 2015. The place he called home became a scene of unimaginable sorrow when his own stepfather, Matthew Kyle Fields, turned a gun on his family. In a brutal sequence of events, Fields shot and killed Jared and his 9-year-old brother, Jacob, as they slept in their beds.
The violence did not end with the two boys. Fields also shot and killed the boys' mother, Rebecca Manning, and her father, Jerry Manning. After carrying out the killings, Fields then took his own life. The devastating event was discovered when deputies arrived at the family's Forsyth County home to find a scene of carnage. Rebecca Manning was found alive on the front porch, but later succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.
Family members believe that talk of divorce may have been the catalyst for the tragic events. Fields and his estranged wife had reportedly argued before he left the home the night before the shootings. He returned in the early morning hours armed with a gun and committed the atrocious acts before calling his own mother. It was his step-father who ultimately called 911 to report the shootings. The perpetrator, Matthew Kyle Fields, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and therefore no arrests were made in connection to the deaths.
