CERES, Calif. — A Ceres woman remembers her son as a "protector" who loved his family.
Stacy McGuire said her son, Benjamin McGuire, was killed in an apparent murder-suicide earlier this month.
“He was an amazing kid. He had no enemy. Everybody loves Benny that knew him. He was a friend of so many people on so many levels in life,” said McGuire.
McGuire said at the age of 20, her son was coming into his own as a strong athlete who found a job that he loved.
"He always talked about having a family. He was just, he was a protector, and he loved his family very much," she said.
However, on Nov. 5, his life was cut short. The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said evidence at the scene in Ceres showed Benjamin McGuire was shot and killed by a gunman who eventually turned the weapon on himself.
"It scares me because this should have never, ever happened," said McGuire.
The suspect, 51-year-old Damon Banks, was captured earlier on surveillance video apparently firing a gun at Stacy McGuire's pickup truck.
She described her three-year relationship with Banks as being one marked by threats and manipulation, and one that ultimately came to violent and tragic end.
"I was very scared to get out of the relationship. Every time we would break up, like every six months, and every time we would break up, he would threaten me about doing something evil to my children," said McGuire. "My kids never did care much for him. They didn't like the way that he treated me."
She said there were violent threats against her children each time she tried to break it off, and a system that met her cries for help with deaf ears.
As her family comes to grips with an unimaginable loss, Stacy said there are many others who are stuck, just like she was.
“I feel that something needs to change, something needs to change, because we're not taken serious and we're scared, so people stay in these relationships. There's a lot of them out there,” McGuire said.
As for Benjamin McGuire, his mother takes solace in knowing that he's in a better place.
"My baby was a Christian. He believed in God, and I know that that gives me hope that I know where he is. I know he's in heaven,” she said.
Domestic violence resources:
- National Domestic Violence Hotline (24/7)
- Voice: (800) 799-7233
- National Human Trafficking Hotline
- Voice: (888) 373-7888
- National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN)
- Voice: (800) 656-HOPE (4673)
- California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA)
- W.E.A.V.E.: Women Escaping a Violent Environment 1-866-920-2952
- RAINN: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
- NSVRC: National Sexual Violence Resource Center
- National Sexual Abuse Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE 1-800-656-4673
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