FORT STEWART, Ga. — Army Sgt. Quornelius Radford has been convicted of attempted murder in last year’s Fort Stewart shooting, but testimony during his court-martial revealed new details about his same-sex relationship with one of the victims and what defense attorneys claim drove him to open fire inside his unit headquarters.
A military judge found Radford guilty Thursday following a judge-alone trial at Fort Stewart. The conviction stems from the August 6, 2025 shooting that wounded five people inside a 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team support facility.
Army prosecutors argued Radford deliberately targeted leaders and fellow soldiers in his workplace when he entered the building armed with a personally owned handgun and opened fire, according to AP News.
The case drew significant attention after prosecutors disclosed that one of the victims was Radford’s intimate partner. During trial testimony, that victim, Raekwon Smith, described a chaotic sequence of events that began before the shooting unfolded inside the building.
According to Smith, he followed Radford onto Fort Stewart that morning because he feared the soldier was suicidal. Smith testified that Radford shot him in the torso before proceeding into his unit’s office area, where four additional soldiers were wounded.
The testimony appears to confirm reporting previously published by The Salty Soldier that Radford and Smith were involved in a romantic relationship prior to the shooting. Court records reviewed last year showed Smith finalized a divorce from his wife on August 5, 2025 — one day before the attack. Prosecutors later cited the relationship as the basis for a domestic violence charge against Radford.
While Radford pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated assault and domestic violence charges, he maintained that he never intended to kill anyone. That claim became a central issue during the attempted murder portion of the trial.
Defense attorneys argued Radford was suicidal and opened fire in an effort to provoke a fatal confrontation with law enforcement.
“Radford only wanted one person to die that day, himself,” defense attorney Lt. Col. Dylan Mack argued during trial.
Prosecutors rejected that explanation, pointing to the nature of the attack and Radford’s military firearms training. Witnesses testified that Radford moved through multiple offices and a conference room while firing at soldiers. A radiologist who reviewed the victims’ injuries testified that one soldier was shot in the face, another in the chest, while others suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and back.
According to testimony, several of those wounds could have been fatal.
Trial testimony also revealed that Radford did not indiscriminately fire at everyone he encountered. Witnesses described instances where he instructed certain soldiers to leave while targeting others inside the building.
The shooting ended when fellow soldiers physically restrained and disarmed Radford before military police arrived. During an August 2025 press briefing, Brig. Gen. John Lubas credited those soldiers with preventing additional casualties.
Radford, who enlisted in the Army in 2018 and served as a supply sergeant assigned to a sustainment unit within the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, never deployed overseas.
Court records show he chose to have his case decided by a military judge rather than a panel of soldiers. Following Thursday’s guilty verdict, sentencing proceedings are scheduled to continue next week.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, attempted murder carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The case remains one of the most significant acts of workplace violence in recent Fort Stewart history and continues to raise questions about warning signs preceding the attack, including Radford’s May 2025 DUI arrest in Liberty County and allegations that he had previously reported personal and professional struggles within his unit.
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