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'Total nightmare': Garden City child fatally shot amid the pandemic's rise in domestic violence

Savannah Morning News - 7/20/2020

Arkeen "A.J." Brumfield was a bright schoolboy, a budding ladies' man who always made sure that his clothes looked neat and his hair was perfect before leaving his family's Garden City home.

Inside that house on the evening of April 12 -- as Georgia residents sheltered at home while the first wave of COVID-19 crashed over America and domestic-violence rates rose worldwide -- a gunshot struck 11-year-old A.J. in the forehead.

When emergency responders arrived, A.J. was bleeding profusely and was rushed to the hospital. Unconscious and in intensive care, A.J. struggled to survive for over a week before passing away on April 20. The community mourned by emerging from coronavirus lockdown for an emotional candlelight vigil.

A.J.'s mother, 42-year-old Shameka Brumfield, could not attend. She was in custody at the Chatham County jail, arrested on April 15 as Garden City police began their investigation of the shooting. She was charged with providing false statements and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Garden City police kept the case under wraps for almost two weeks, only reluctantly providing scant details about it in late April after a reporter followed up on a tip. The shooting's circumstances remained murky when police announced in early May that they were seeking 48-year-old William "Kenny" McDonald -- a longtime acquaintance of the Brumfield family, with a record of violent crime -- but only for questioning.

For over two months, McDonald remained at large while the U.S. Marshals Service joined Garden City police in the shooting investigation. Meanwhile, Shameka Brumfield was released on bond on June 4, just in time to attend A.J.'s funeral.

Now McDonald sits at the Chatham County jail, arrested on July 6 in Savannah. McDonald is charged with the boy's murder, as prosecutors accuse him of firing the bullet that killed A.J. Yet according to Garden City Police Chief Gil Ballard, the shooting's precise circumstances remain a mystery, and the investigation continues.

'Everybody loved him'

Shameka Brumfield is back at the house where her son's life was taken. She still faces the charges leveled against her in April but insists she had nothing to do with her son's shooting. She claims she was sleeping when it happened.

"I woke up from a bad dream into a nightmare. A total nightmare," Brumfield said while dabbing her eyes, sitting on the front porch of the family's Garden City home in early July. Her mother, Mary Williams, is inside the house, distraught over the death of a grandson she was helping raise.

"We're holding on," Brumfield said when asked if the family was all right. "Right now, my mom is not doing well."

Brumfield recalls her son as a smart, boisterous child who could sometimes be a joker; a boy loved deeply by his family as well as his teachers and classmates at West Chatham Elementary. His favorite cartoon was "Cars", and he always rooted for Lightning McQueen.

"He didn't have a mean bone in his body," Brumfield said. "I just adored that young man. Everybody loved him. Everybody."

A.J. was fastidious about his appearance and enjoyed getting spruced up in new clothes to show off for neighborhood girls, who followed him everywhere, according to Brumfield.

"He was loved by so many people," Brumfield said. "He was just a lovable little kid."

A.J. knew McDonald his entire life; he was a "family friend" going back 20 years, Brumfield said. Although she once believed that McDonald shot A.J. by accident, Brumfield now considers him culpable for the boy's death.

"I wouldn't call it an accident no more," Brumfield said, while insisting that she witnessed nothing when her son was shot. "I was asleep. ... I wasn't covering up for anybody, or anything like that. I didn't know."

This case is full of conflicting stories, according to Ballard, the police chief. He remains circumspect about revealing details of the investigation before it is closed.

"At the end of the day, I can't tell you who pulled the trigger," Ballard said. "No one is accepting responsibility. ... It's going to go to trial and it's going to be up to a jury to decide."

In the meantime, Brumfield insists that she absolutely did not kill her son.

"Anybody who knows me knows I would never do nothing like that to my baby. That's my world," Brumfield said.

'I'm not saying she's innocent'

According to the police report on the shooting, at 7:45 p.m. on April 12, two Garden City officers responded to an emergency call at A.J.'s 2nd Street home, where Williams said that "her grandson was in the back bedroom and he needed help."

Williams led the officers to the bedroom, where the police "saw the victim laying on the bed. He was on his back and I could see blood coming from his head and was on the pillow below his head. There appeared to be a hole in his forehead above the victim's left eye."

With an ambulance en route, the officers moved A.J.'s mattress to the floor to provide better access for arriving medics.

"We assisted with moving the victim outside onto a stretcher," concludes the police report.

For Garden City Cpl. Roberto Rodriguez, the lead detective in this case, it was his first time investigating a child's killing. The responding officers' body-camera footage left him disturbed but determined.

"When you see this child laying motionless on the bed, it was hard," Rodriguez said. "It was extremely hard. ... It made us want to solve the case that much more."

The investigation soon yielded contradictory statements, according to Rodriguez, who added that Brumfield initially said only she, A.J., and Williams were in the house when the fatal shot was fired.

"We were able to determine that the initial statements provided were false," Rodriguez said. "Mr. Williams was at the residence at the time of the shooting."

Further police interviews with Brumfield produced additional information that was "misleading and not truthful," Rodriguez said, resulting in her April 15 arrest along with the firearm charge. According to court records, Brumfield has a criminal history dating to 1999.

In accordance with current Chatham County Sheriff's Office COVID-19 protocols, Brumfield was placed in quarantine during her first two weeks in jail. She learned the devastating news of her son's passing while isolated behind bars.

Even after the case turned into a homicide investigation following A.J.'s death, Garden City police chose not to alert the press because the investigation was still in its early stages, and also so that the public would not jump to conclusions about Brumfield's role in the shooting, according to Ballard.

"I'm not saying she's innocent," Ballard said, clarifying that while the case is ongoing, what police eventually learned about McDonald's involvement in the shooting makes him the prime suspect. "The evidence leads toward him."

U.S. Marshals get their man

When news of A.J.'s shooting broke on April 24, Garden City police vaguely structured their statements to avoid pinning blame on Brumfield, while making clear that she was arrested in connection to the incident. The reasoning for their ambiguity was illuminated after the officers issued a May 5 press release.

"At this point in the investigation, the Garden City Police Department is looking for William Kenny McDonald, who is wanted for questioning in regards to this incident," the press release stated. "McDonald goes by the name 'Kenny', and may be residing on the east side of Savannah. ... McDonald is also wanted by the Savannah Police Department for Aggravated Assault."

Locating McDonald was no easy task, according to Rodriguez.

"We received information that he left the state for a while," he said, adding that police garnered several leads from the community, including tips submitted to Chatham County'sCrimeStoppers program. "That was very helpful."

After hearing that McDonald was back in Savannah, Garden City police requested the U.S. Marshals Service to help in the search, which they concluded on July 6 in the eastside neighborhood.

"My understanding is that they ordered him out of the house, and he came out of the house. There was no struggle," said Rodriguez of McDonald's apprehension.

By this point, Garden City police had confirmed enough details of the shooting to charge McDonald with A.J.'s murder, along with numerous other counts related to the incident, including failure to appear and cruelty to children, according to court records.

"We've had a plethora of new information and new actionable leads," Rodriguez said, adding that while some details of the shooting remain undetermined, "we have everybody identified who was in the residence at that time."

'My son will have justice'

A.J.'s April 12 shooting occurred as domestic violence rates rose dramatically across America and around the world; locally, the Chatham County Police Department also experienced an uptick in domestic violence reports between April 5 and April 23.

It will likely be many months or years before McDonald stands trial for A.J.'s murder. Chatham's courts were already backed up before the pandemic, and most trial proceedings were suspended in March due to the judicial state of emergency brought on by COVID-19, and continuing this summer.

Although "it's still an active case" containing several unknowns, the investigation has established a verifiable account of the shooting, Ballard said.

"I deal with the rule of law, and I deal with facts," Ballard said, while emphasizing his team's desire for A.J. to receive justice. "We're just saddened by that death."

While still facing her own legal difficulties, Brumfield is relieved that McDonald was caught and feels assured that the justice system will eventually punish him for her son's death.

"I'm glad that they apprehended him, and my son will have justice," Brumfield said.

Nowadays, Brumfield welcomes many well-wishing family members and neighbors who stop by the house regularly to check on her and her heartbroken mother, and to reminisce about A.J.'s mischievous antics and sweet smile.

"That's all we can think of, that's all we can talk about," Brumfield said, before recalling how handsome her son looked in his casket. She remembers thinking, "if only my baby could see himself."

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