Neighbors react after 2 brothers killed in separate Aiken County shootings

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - There are new developments in two of the deadly shootings in Aiken County this week.

We confirmed two of the victims shot and killed in separate shootings are related. The latest shooting happened Thursday night at the North Augusta Gardens Apartments. The other happened just the night before at a home in New Ellenton.

One man was killed in each of the incidents. And now we know the two victims were brothers. We looked into the details and talked to people who live near where those shootings happened.

The North Augusta Department of Public Safety hasn’t identified a suspect yet in the shooting in that city.

We talked to some people who were here when it happened and they’re sad something like this could happen where they live.

“Whoever’s doing the shooting, doesn’t really care about the children out here, ‘cause there be children running around here all the time,” said a neighbor.

One resident who wanted to stay anonymous says a lot of children live in North Augusta Gardens. And she’s sad they had to witness this.

“Whatever they had going on with him, they should’ve left it where it was. Why bring it out here? Why bring it out here? And it was not just him around, there’s other children around,” said the resident.

The North Augusta shooting happened at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday. Stashaun Judge, 25, was shot once in the abdomen. Emergency medical crews took him to a local hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead just before midnight.

This happened just a day after his brother Stacey was shot dead at his home in New Ellenton.

“It’s sad. It’s very sad for two brothers to be taken out with a gun,” said a neighbor.

We still don’t know who did this, but residents here are tired of the violence.

“They’re coming from somewhere else, and what we need to do is all reach out and use our voices to tell these people that violence is not the solution,” said a neighbor.

The North Augusta Department of Public Safety continues to investigate this. If you have any information, they ask you to contact them immediately.

Deadly surge in violence

The CSRA has seen a deadly past few weeks as violent crime surges here and in the rest of the nation after dipping during the height of the pandemic last year. Here’s a look at local death investigations in the past three weeks:

• July 22: Stashaun Judge, 25, fatally shot around 9:39 p.m. at the North Augusta Gardens Apartments, 310 W. Hugh St.
• July 21: Decaying unidentified body found around 5:30 p.m. on the back porch of a vacant residence at 1638 Broad Street in Augusta. The body was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab for an autopsy and identification.
• July 21: Stephanie Gordon, 36, of Waynesboro, found shot to death around 2 p.m. at 617 Wallace St. In Waynesboro. Bobby Turner arrested in Florida for questioning.
• July 21: Stacey Judge, 28, found shot dead at 641 Moon Shadow St. in New Ellenton.
• July 20: Johnny Willingham, 33, fatally shot around 12:35 a.m. at a residence in the 1900 block of Telfair Street in Augusta.
• July 15: Rebekah M. Clark, 28, fatally shot in a drive-by shooting shortly before 7:15 a.m. at 426 Audubon Circle in the Belvedere/Clearwater area
• July 14: Joccoui Jackson, 26, found fatally shot after 11:30 p.m. at 340 Aiken Road in Graniteville.
• July 7: Jamar Q. Bush, 22, fatally shot just after 6 p.m. at 826 Dillon Ave. in Aiken.
• July 5: Shakeira Waymyers, 28, fatally shot when someone drove up next to her vehicle and fired into it in the early morning on Sato Avenue in Denmark, S.C.
• July 3: Jamichael Kirkland, 30, killed and three people injured in a shooting at Bird’s Sports Bar & Lounge, 229 S. Main St. in Swainsboro. Dallas Clark, 29, of Twin City, is arrested.

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