Earl Goodwater, a 53-year-old father and grandfather from Goose Creek, South Carolina, was killed outside his family home after prosecutors said he intervened when his daughter was allegedly assaulted by her fiancé. The May 13, 2023, confrontation began as a family dispute but escalated into a fatal shooting that ultimately sent the man accused of killing him to prison for decades.
According to prosecutors, Joshua Scott Lee Butler and his then-fiancée arrived at her parents’ home in the St. James Estates neighborhood at approximately 10 p.m. that night. The couple had reportedly been arguing earlier while attending another family gathering, and prosecutors said the situation had become physical by the time they reached the residence.
Authorities alleged that Butler struck his fiancée in the face, causing an injury to her mouth and swelling. Prosecutors also said the alleged assault took place in front of one of the couple’s children.
The woman then went inside her parents’ home to retrieve the couple’s 1-year-old child. While inside, she called out to her father for help.
Earl responded by stepping into the confrontation and attempting to protect his daughter. According to testimony presented at trial, he told her to “leave that boy alone” before becoming involved in a physical struggle with Butler.
The confrontation moved from inside the residence into the front yard. Family members reportedly tried to separate the two men, and for a moment it appeared the fight might end without further escalation.
Instead, prosecutors said Butler walked to his vehicle, retrieved a loaded 9 mm handgun, and returned to the residence.
According to trial testimony, Butler initially pointed the firearm toward another person who was present. That witness reportedly attempted to distract Butler and told him, “I’m not afraid to die,” in an effort to draw his attention away from Earl, his daughter, and the children who had come outside.
Prosecutors said Butler then moved past the witness and confronted Earl again near the front porch.
During the second confrontation, Butler allegedly placed Earl in a headlock while still holding the firearm. A single shot was then fired.
Earl was struck in the right cheek. Authorities said the gunshot wound was fatal and that his death was likely immediate.
He died outside his own home while his family was nearby, after intervening in an effort to protect his daughter and grandchildren.
Following the shooting, prosecutors said Butler fled the scene with his 4-year-old daughter. Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office deputies later arrested him after he returned to the area that same night.
Butler was initially arrested on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The case was subsequently presented to a grand jury, which returned more serious indictments as prosecutors continued pursuing the case.
At trial, a Berkeley County jury heard evidence concerning the confrontation, the firearm, and the events that led to Earl’s death. After considering the testimony and other evidence, jurors convicted Butler of murder, pointing and presenting a firearm at another person, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
The jury acquitted Butler of second-degree domestic violence.
Circuit Court Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope sentenced Butler, now 29, to 45 years in prison for Earl’s murder. He also received two additional five-year sentences for the firearm-related convictions.
Those additional sentences were ordered to run concurrently with the 45-year murder sentence, meaning Butler will serve them during the same period rather than consecutively.
Assistant Solicitor Michelle Hart described Earl’s actions as those of a father who stepped forward when his daughter and grandchildren needed protection.
Prosecutors argued that Butler had opportunities to end the confrontation without anyone being killed. They emphasized that family members had already separated him from Earl, but he nevertheless chose to leave the immediate confrontation, retrieve a firearm, and return.
That decision became a central part of the prosecution’s argument that the shooting represented a deliberate escalation rather than an unavoidable accident.
The case has also highlighted the danger that domestic disputes can pose not only to intimate partners but to relatives and bystanders who attempt to intervene.
For Earl’s family, the night began with an attempt to help his daughter and ended with the loss of a father and grandfather in front of the people he was trying to protect.
The consequences have extended far beyond the courtroom. Earl’s death left relatives to mourn a loved one whose final actions were motivated, according to prosecutors, by concern for his daughter and grandchildren.
The conviction brought the criminal proceedings against Butler to a significant stage, but it cannot undo the loss suffered by Earl’s family.
The jury’s verdict established Butler’s criminal responsibility under the charges proven at trial, while the sentence ensures that he will spend decades in prison.
For those who knew Earl, his final moments have become inseparable from the image of a father stepping forward when his family needed him. He was not simply caught in a violent encounter; according to the prosecution’s account, he became involved because his daughter was in danger.
His family will now have to live with the memory of a night in which an argument escalated from a domestic dispute to a fatal shooting outside their home.
Earl Goodwater was 53 when he died. He left behind family members who loved him and grandchildren who lost their grandfather in circumstances that prosecutors said began with his attempt to protect his own daughter.
The tragedy serves as a sobering reminder of how quickly domestic conflicts can escalate when firearms are introduced into already volatile situations.
For Earl’s loved ones, however, the most important part of his story is the person he was and the choice he made to stand beside his family when they needed him.
His death remains a devastating loss, while his memory lives on through the daughter and grandchildren he tried to protect that night.
