Thursday, August 1, 2019

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- Benjamin Goodson has been found not guilty on all counts.

He was charged with Malice Murder, 2 counts of Felony Murder, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Cruelty to Children in the First Degree and Aggravated assault. He was found not guilty on all counts.

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- More witnesses are being called to the stand Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of killing a 6-year-old boy.

Benjamin Goodson is charged with the murder of Ryder Stamey.

A firearms expert with the GBI testified Wednesday that he found malfunctions with the gun that allegedly shot Ryder, but he wouldn't expect it to go off on its own.

"In your opinion, if the hammer's pulled back and the trigger is in its normal position forward, will the gun go off all by itself?" the prosecutor asked the expert.

"Again, that's the situation we're discussing here, and I would not expect it to," the expert said.

Goodson claims he was playing a game with the boy and another 8-year-old at a home in Hephzibah in November when the gun went off.

Prosecutors also showed Goodson's first interview with investigator Lucas Grant from the night Ryder was killed.

"I was just showing it to him," Goodson told investigators. "JJ had already seen it, and I was just showing it to them, and I pulled back the hammer and I was like, 'See this,' and then I went to put it back like this and it shot off."

Grant wasn't stopping there.

"I didn't pull that trigger," Goodson told Grant.

"Okay, how did that gun go off?" Grant responded.

Goodson didn't have an answer, but later did respond.

"I've never put a shell in that gun," Goodson said. "I won't shoot the gun. I don't trust it.

Now it's up to the jurt to decide whether or not Ryder's death was intentional or an accident.