In the quiet community of Greenhill, Alabama, a domestic dispute escalated into a tragic event that claimed the life of 11-year-old Robert Edward “Bobby” Beaty. The young male was visiting from Illinois with his mother, Karen Beaty, to offer support to his aunt, Tammy Garner, who was going through a contentious divorce.
On the night of April 7, 2009, just before a scheduled divorce hearing, the situation turned violent.
Bobby, his mother Karen, his 40-year-old aunt Tammy, and his 16-year-old cousin, Chelsie Garner, were all fatally shot. The perpetrator was identified as Kevin Garner, Tammy's estranged husband and Chelsie's father.
Kevin Garner, 45, drove to his wife's rented home in the Greenhill community around midnight and carried out the shootings. Investigators believe Garner was unhappy with the divorce proceedings. After the killings, he fled to his own home in Priceville, which he set on fire. His body was later found near the burned-down residence, where he had died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
The discovery of the four bodies was made the following morning when a neighbor looked through the door of the Greenhill home and saw a body, prompting a call to the authorities. The incident was part of a string of mass shootings that had occurred across the country in a short period, leaving the local community in shock and mourning the senseless loss of four lives, including that of a young boy who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
