Beaufort suspects tried to cover up details of 6-year-old boy’s shooting death, police say
Desarai Bennett, a tenant at the Cross Creek Apartments, has been charged as an accessory to the reportedly accidental shooting that killed a six-year-old boy at the Beaufort complex earlier this month. Public records indicate she may be related to St. Helena resident Benjamin Shamar Seabrook IV, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter on March 15 for the child’s death. Both suspects face a number of charges related to an alleged cover-up of the circumstances behind the fatal gunfire.
Beaufort police responded around 1:15 p.m. on March 3 to the Cross Creek Apartments, located east of the Walmart on Robert Smalls Parkway. Six-year-old Frankie Washington originally survived the gunshot wound to the head but died about nine hours later at the Medical University of South Carolina children’s hospital.
Bennett, 22, was charged Tuesday morning with accessory before the fact to a violent felony, filing a false police report of a felony and criminal conspiracy. Seabrook, 18, faces a mostly different set of charges: involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice, unlawful conduct toward a child, tampering with evidence and filing a false police report. Chief Stephenie Price, a spokesperson for the Beaufort Police Department, said Bennett “assisted with the obstruction of justice charge” with Seabrook.
Details of the duo’s alleged offenses are murky, although current charges imply the suspects banded together in an attempt to hide certain elements of the incident from police. For instance, Price said the “initial facts” presented in Bennett and Seabrook’s witness statements “were not supported by the investigation,” although she would not elaborate on the original report’s alleged discrepancies.
Price would not answer other questions about Bennett’s alleged involvement as an “accessory before the fact” to the incident, including whether her charge was related to the storage of a firearm inside the apartment.
Online records show Bennett and Seabrook have the same mother but different fathers. While Bennett appeared to have no criminal record prior to the March 3 incident, Seabrook was arrested for felony assault and battery, carjacking and possession of a weapon during a violent crime on Feb. 3, a month before the fatal shooting. He was released the same day of his February arrest on a $50,000 surety bond, which typically requires the accused to pay 10% of the total bond amount.
Three days after his second arrest, Seabrook was released again from the Beaufort County jail on a $20,000 surety bond. Bennett bailed out less than four hours after her arrest Tuesday, although her bond information was not publicly available as of Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published March 20, 2024 at 10:42 AM.
