In the quiet borough of Woodbine, New Jersey, a life was tragically cut short on the evening of Thursday, October 9, 2014. Damien L. Fashaw, a 41-year-old male, found himself in a heated argument outside his residence on the 300 block of Jefferson Street. The verbal altercation, witnessed by others, foreshadowed a grim turn of events that would shatter the tranquility of the neighborhood.
Roughly twenty minutes after the argument, the sound of a single gunshot pierced the night air. Responding to a report of a man lying in the middle of the street at approximately 9:15 p.m., troopers discovered Fashaw unconscious with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was rushed to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced deceased at 10:29 p.m.
An autopsy later confirmed that the cause of death was a homicide resulting from the gunshot wound.
The investigation into Fashaw's death quickly focused on the man with whom he had been arguing earlier that evening. Less than 24 hours after the fatal shooting, authorities located and arrested 20-year-old Xavier Geisinger of Dennisville at his grandparents' residence. Geisinger, who was identified as Fashaw's stepson, was taken into custody and subsequently charged with murder, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
As the legal proceedings unfolded, Geisinger eventually entered into a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter for the shooting death of his stepfather. This plea resolved the case, bringing a measure of closure to a violent episode that had ended a man's life and irrevocably altered the lives of those involved.
