Boyfriend allegedly stabbed teenage partner to death with sword after “hitting didn’t work”

On April 5, authorities spent two hours trying to lure Shane Curry and his partner from the bedroom of their home in Stow, Massachusetts.

“Fuck off, you bastards,” the 20-year-old shouted back as officers banged on his locked door and tried to get in to check on him, police said.

Stow Police Chief Michael Sallese had previously met Curry during a mental health crisis, and when he knocked on the door again, this time it squeaked open.

Authorities found Curry curled up on a mattress next to his 17-year-old partner, Nevaeh “River” Goddard – who he described as his “twin flame,” according to the indictment he has received.People.

But Goddard lay there motionless.

According to a statement released last Friday by the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, officers pulled back a blanket covering the bodies of the two men and noticed “obvious signs of injury.”

The teenager was covered in bruises and stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, the prosecutor's statement said.

“I talked 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, Goddard's mother's fiancée, Heather Coyne, called for the death penalty for Curry, writing in a Facebook post that he should “burn in hell.”

A month later, on September 4, Curry appeared before Judge Patrick Haggaan in Middlesex Superior Court and was charged with first-degree murder.

He was accused of stabbing his partner with a sword. The weapon was found next to a kitchen knife in the bedroom, according to the indictment.

After being handcuffed and led out of the bedroom, Curry told officers the couple got into an argument over Goddard's alleged infidelity. Curry then allegedly began hitting his partner because of her “infidelity addiction,” court documents say.

“The bruises aren't helping,” Curry reportedly told police. “Hitting her isn't helping, so, OK, I have to stab her, so that's what I'm doing.”

Curry then plunged the sword into Goddard's stomach, authorities said.

He is said to have described it as “horrific” when he stabbed his partner again. The autopsy revealed stab wounds to the neck, torso, arms and liver.

When Curry learned that Goddard was not breathing, he told authorities he had cut his arms in a suicide attempt, the indictment says.

Curry was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for evaluation.

He was initially arraigned in Concord District Court on April 6. He was charged with assault on a household or family member and assault with a dangerous weapon causing great bodily injury,” the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Goddard, who used they/them pronouns and identified as nonbinary, was buried on April 20 at Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston, Rhode Island, according to an obituary page set up by the family. Goddard would have turned 18 in July.

The teenager had a rough start in life, according to Simmons, as his mother, Kristin Goddard, gave birth to her child while serving a sentence in a Pennsylvania prison. Goddard spent part of her childhood in a foster home.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had reported Goddard missing since April 2022.

Kristin told Boston 25 News her child ran away after the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families requested “behavioral therapy” for Goddard at a state facility.

Despite Goddard's turbulent childhood, her “amazing, outgoing personality” emerged, according to an obituary.

“She was very creative and artistic and loved to write her own music. Her cuddly nature was only surpassed by her quick wit and silliness,” it continued.

On the obituary page, devastated family and friends expressed their condolences. Aunt Nancy wrote: “I'm going to light a million candles for you so you can see how much everyone loves you.”