Shawn Thomas Eaton was a 29-year-old White man from Austin, Texas, and a father to two boys. Remembered as a talented musician and a handy person who could fix anything, he was at a homeless encampment in a wooded area off South MoPac Expressway on the afternoon of February 21, 2020. Witnesses say Eaton got into a heated argument with another resident, 41-year-old Damon Richard Boyd, who was heard yelling for Eaton to get out of his tent. When Eaton refused, witnesses reported hearing a single gunshot.

Boyd’s girlfriend told police she ran toward the sound and saw Eaton fall, a hole in his upper left chest, and Boyd standing nearby. She later said Boyd had told her he shot Eaton to protect her. Eaton’s body was left at the campsite and someone covered him with a mattress. Two days later, on the morning of February 23, a camp resident flagged down a Sunset Valley officer; Austin police found Eaton deceased with an apparent single gunshot wound to the chest and a .32 caliber shell casing near the body. Witnesses identified Boyd as the man who argued with and shot Eaton; a murder warrant was issued and Boyd was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Does anyone have information about Eaton’s time at the encampment or about the events on February 21 that could help clarify what happened?