As organizers prepare to hold a march and balloon release on Thursday to honor murder victim Commen Schultz-Gunn, new details show the killing happened in front of the victim’s 10-year-old daughter.
Serial abuser Shawn Gunn is accused of shooting his wife March 15 in an upstairs bedroom of their townhome on Brandywine Place. The Augusta Press has learned that Gunn fired the fatal shot in front of the victim’s 10-year-old daughter Bentlee.
Bentlee dialed 911 afterward and told dispatchers that “everyone is dead,” according to authorities. She said Gunn had shot her mother and himself.
But when deputies arrived, the girl’s stepfather was alive and would not surrender, according to the GBI. Instead, he started firing at officers, who returned fired and struck him at least once. They went inside and found the victim dead.
Gunn was hospitalized and later charged in his wife’s murder. He is a serial abuser who the victim had accused of violent beatings over the years and obtained protective orders against, only to reconcile and stop cooperating with his prosecution. He served little jail time for his felonious attacks, including one where he broke his wife’s tooth and cut her lip after punching her repeatedly in front of witnesses.
The victim was well-known in the community as organizer of Augusta Legends Awards, the Augusta Grammy’s and a pop-up shop for the Masters, according to media reports. She also opened Bentlee’s closet, a children’s boutique she named after her daughter so local youth could dress up affordably.
Bentlee’s Closet, at 105 McCartan Street, is the location where Thursday’s march and balloon release will start. It is being called the “CSRA Silent Butterflies March & Balloon Release,” designed to honor Commen Dean Schultz, which is how the victim’s name is spelled on the flyer. (She went by Commen Schultz-Gunn on Facebook and the coroner identified her as Commen Gunn.)
Organizers say the march will start promptly at 6 p.m. at Bentlee’s Closet. They ask participants to bring a purple balloon. The event ends at the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre at 15th 8th Street in Augusta. For more information, call James Dean at 706-869-5654 or email him at jdean349@gmail.com
