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Benny Alexander Stallings
Case from Winston, OR dated Mar 15, 2020
Victim Details
Benny Alexander Stallings
Male
Winston
Oregon
Mar 15, 2020
31
Aug 2, 2026
Case Description
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On a quiet Sunday morning in Winston, Oregon, the darkness offered little warning before fate struck. Just before 2 a.m. on March 15, 2020, the stillness was shattered by gunfire near Ford Street. When law enforcement arrived, they found two men lying on the ground, lifeless and already beyond help. Among them was 31‑year‑old Benny Alexander Stallings, a male of unknown ethnicity, whose life was abruptly ended in that violent moment. With him lay 24‑year‑old Nicholas David Lehman‑Helmke, also male, both pronounced dead at the scene.
Benny Alexander Stallings, male, age 31, was mourned by the community as we pieced together the horror of that night. The early morning hours were filled with blur and fear, as neighbors awakened to more than just the sound of gunfire—they awoke to a tragedy that would rattle their town. The victims, including Benny Alexander Stallings, male, 31, were known to the shooter, casting a grim shadow of familiarity over the crime.
Investigators from the Douglas County Major Crimes Team responded swiftly, coordinating with the Winston Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police, and the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office. They activated every available resource, determined to unravel what had happened on that Ford Street address, 280 Ford Street, where Benny Alexander Stallings, male, age 31, fell alongside Nicholas David Lehman‑Helmke.
The suspect emerged in the early hours that same morning. At approximately 2:36 a.m., authorities received an unexpected call: a man wished to turn himself in. That man was 34‑year‑old Savino David DeSantiago of Winston. He surrendered without further violence and was promptly taken into custody. DeSantiago faced charges that painted a clear picture of the crime—two counts of murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The unfolding of events that night was chilling. Witnesses reported that after the initial shooting, DeSantiago drove past another home on Peach Street. There, he honked his horn before opening fire through a window, terrorizing unsuspecting residents before fleeing the area. When law enforcement arrived again, they found DeSantiago had already taken himself into custody a short distance away.
In the days that followed, the full weight of the tragedy settled over Winston. 31‑year‑old Benny Alexander Stallings, male, became one face of the violence that so suddenly shattered two lives. Authorities held DeSantiago without bail as they pursued the investigation, its gravity heightened by the personal connections between the victims and their shooter.
Years later, the memory of that night remained etched in the community. In May 2025, the court handed down a verdict: life without the possibility of parole. The 39‑year‑old DeSantiago, now older but still bearing the weight of his actions, was convicted on all counts related to the March 2020 shooting that ended the life of 31‑year‑old Benny Alexander Stallings, male, alongside that of 24‑year‑old Nicholas David Lehman‑Helmke.
Thus ended a chapter of grief and mourning for Benny Alexander Stallings, male, age 31. A life cut short in an act of violence that reverberated through a small community, leaving behind memories of a man known to his neighbors—and lost in a moment that changed everything.
