Beau Hartman, a 29-year-old man from Port St. Lucie, FL, was tragically killed on February 16, 2016. Hartman, who was visiting friends at a house on Southeast Darien Road, was fatally shot during a botched robbery attempt. According to reports, Hartman had just arrived at the house when he and his friends heard a loud pounding at the door. Upon looking outside, they saw a masked man. Hartman, in an attempt to confront the intruder, grabbed an umbrella and ran outside.
Unbeknownst to him, another assailant armed with a shotgun was waiting around the corner. Hartman was shot twice at point-blank range but managed to make it back inside the house where his friends called 911. He was later pronounced dead at HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce.
The investigation into Beau Hartman's death led to the arrest and conviction of three men. Hunter Boesch, 25, was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm and other felony charges. Boesch, who was already incarcerated on unrelated charges at the time of his arrest, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecution revealed that Boesch and his accomplices had planned to rob another man who was staying at the house, but Hartman, who was not the intended target, ended up being shot.
William Rummage, 25, and Johnathan Sims, 25, were also implicated in the crime. Rummage pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of manslaughter, attempted robbery with a firearm, attempted burglary of a dwelling with a firearm, and conspiracy to commit robbery. As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to nine years in prison, with the possibility of release in four years due to time already served, followed by six years of probation. During his court appearance, Rummage expressed remorse and apologized to Hartman's family. Sims, on the other hand, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading no contest to the same charges as Rummage.
The case highlighted the dangers of violent crime and the impact it has on the victims and their families. Beau Hartman, a young man whose life was cut short, became an unintended victim of a robbery gone wrong. The convictions of Boesch, Rummage, and Sims brought some measure of justice to Hartman's family, but the loss of their loved one remains a poignant reminder of the senselessness of such acts of violence.
