For two hours on April 5, authorities tried coaxing Shane Curry and his partner from the bedroom of their Stow, Massachusetts, home.
“Get the f*** out, you creeps,” the 20-year-old shouted back as officers banged on his locked door, trying to enter to carry out a wellbeing check, police said.
Stow Police Chief Michael Sallese had previously met Curry during a mental health crisis and, as he knocked on the door once more, this time, it creaked open.
Authorities found Curry curled up on a mattress next to his 17-year-old partner Nevaeh “River” Goddard – who he referred to as his “twin flame,” according to the indictment obtained byPeople.
But Goddard was lying motionless.
Officers pulled back a blanket that was covering their body and noticed “obvious signs of injury,” according to a statement released by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office last Friday.
The teen was covered in bruises and stab wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the DA office’s statement.
“I spoke to the boyfriend,” grandfather Michael Simmons, who raised Goddard as a child, told 10WJAR five days later. “He promised to take care of her.”
On April 7, the fiance of Goddard’s mother, Heather Coyne, called for Curry to face the death penalty, writing in a Facebook post that he should “rot in hell.”
One month later, on September 4, Curry faced Judge Patrick Haggaan at Middlesex Superior Court and was charged with first degree murder.
He was accused of stabbing his partner to death with a sword, with the weapon found alongside a kitchen knife in the bedroom, according to the indictment.
After being handcuffed and taken out of the bedroom, Curry told officers that the couple had gotten into a fight over Goddard’s alleged infidelity. Curry then allegedly began beating his partner for their “cheating addiction,” court documents said.
“The bruises aren’t working,” Curry allegedly told police. “Hitting her, that’s not working, so okay, I have to knife her, so I do.”
Then, Curry plunged the sword into Goddard’s abdomen, authorities said.
He allegedly noted it was “horrifying” as he stabbed his partner again, with an autopsy revealing puncture wounds to the neck, torso, arms and liver.
Upon learning Goddard wasn’t breathing, Curry told authorities that he sliced his own arms in a bid to take his own life, according to the indictment.
Curry was taken into custody and transported to hospital for evaluation.
He was initially arraigned in Concord District Court on April 6 on charges of assault and battery on a household or family member and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury,” according to the statement from the DA’s office.
Goddard, who used she/they pronouns and identified as non-binary, was laid to rest at Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston, Rhode Island, on April 20, according to an obituary page set up by their family. Goddard would have turned 18 in July.
The teen had a tough start to life, according to Simmons, with their mother Kristin Goddard giving birth while serving a sentence in a Pennsylvania prison. Goddard then spent part of their childhood in foster care.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had listed Goddard as missing since April 2022.
Kristin said her child ran away after Rhode Island’s Department for Children, Youth & Families requested that Goddard receive “behavioral treatment” at a state facility, she told Boston 25 News.
Despite Goddard’s tumultuous upbringing, their “amazing, outgoing personality” shone through, according to an obituary.
“She was very creative and artistic, she loved to write her own music. Her cuddly nature was only matched by her quick wit, and goofiness,” it continued.
Devastated family and friends shared their condolences on the obituary page, with aunt Nancy writing: “I will light a million candles for you just so you can see how much you are loved by everyone.”
