Robert Godwin, Sr. is the elderly man who was recently shot on a Facebook live video. The shooter, whose name is Steve Stephens, walked up to Robert and shot him while he was walking home from an Easter dinner. Robert’s family is still trying to make sense of the shooting. Robert’s son stated that the family does not know what they are going to do because Robert is a good man and did not deserve to be killed.
Robert was a father of nine with 14 grandchildren. He enjoyed fishing and collecting plastic cans. In the video you can see Steve talk about what he is going to do before he shoots Robert, stating that he was looking for someone to kill and pinpointed the man. He walked up to Robert and initiated a conversation with him. Then he shot Robert.
The video has been removed by Facebook. However, it has been widely-circulated around the Internet. Ryan Godwin, who is the grandson of Robert, has encouraged people to not share the video out of respect for his grandfather. Police are looking for Stephens. They have stated that he is armed and dangerous, and believe that he is no longer in Ohio.
Steve’s mother stated that Steve was killing people because he was upset with his girlfriend. Robert’s son stated that he still cannot believe his father is gone. He says that his father was a good guy and would give you the shirt off of his back.
There have been Gofundme pages set up to help the Godwin family with funeral expenses. However, the family has stated that they are not raising funds, and are encouraging people to not give to those pages.