In the quiet community of Beaufort, South Carolina, a tragic story unfolded that cut short the life of a young boy. Six-year-old Frankie Martin Washington, a student at Whale Branch Elementary School, died on March 4, 2024, from a gunshot wound to the head sustained the previous day. The incident, which occurred at the Cross Creek Apartments, was initially reported as an accidental shooting, but a subsequent investigation revealed a story of negligence and a calculated cover-up.
On the
afternoon of March 3, 2024, emergency services were dispatched to the apartment complex following a report of a child with a gunshot wound. Frankie was found with a critical head injury and was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Frankie's death led to the arrests of two individuals. The primary suspect was identified as 18-year-old Benjamin Shamar Seabrook IV. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice, unlawful conduct toward a child, tampering with physical evidence, and filing a false police report. A second individual, 22-year-old Desarai Bennett, was also arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact, criminal conspiracy, and filing a false police report.
As the investigation progressed, a grim narrative of the events leading to Frankie's death emerged. It was revealed that Seabrook had negligently stored a switch-modified pistol under the pillow of the six-year-old boy. This modified firearm, which can operate as a fully automatic weapon, discharged and struck Frankie in the head. In an attempt to conceal the true circumstances of the shooting, Seabrook and Bennett, who were identified as half-siblings, allegedly hid the handgun and concocted a story about a stray bullet entering the apartment from outside. To bolster their false report, they reportedly created a hole in the apartment's porch screen to resemble a bullet hole.
The legal proceedings against Seabrook and Bennett moved forward, with Seabrook's bond being revoked due to a prior violent crime. Ultimately, in February 2025, a then 19-year-old Benjamin Shamar Seabrook IV pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, and filing a false police report. He was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for his role in the death of Frankie Martin Washington. The charges against Desarai Bennett were later dismissed.
