A 2005 graduate of Marshwood High School and mother of two children, Sherri Sweet died a day after being shot in the head Saturday, March 22, in her home on Brattle Street, according to Maine State Police.
Sweet, who lived in the house near Leighs Mill Pond for most of her 37 years, was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Jeremiah Godfrey, 43, who called 911 to report the shooting. Godfrey was arrested in South Berwick at about noon March 26 and transported to York County Jail after Maine State Police obtained a warrant for murder.
Godfrey was ordered held in jail without bail Friday by Superior Court Justice James Martemucci.
South Berwick Police received a 911 call for a domestic disturbance at 48 Brattle St. at 8:44 p.m. March 22, according to the local police log. Area police departments, Maine State Police and York ambulances responded to the call, but no other details were listed in the log.
The local police department could not provide any more information on the Brattle Street call “per attorney general policy,” South Berwick Lt. Scott Stephens told the Reporter on March 25 in response to questions emailed two days earlier.
“The press release that was shared on the department’s Facebook page will be the only information we will provide on this incident,” Stephens wrote, referring to a Maine State Police statement.
But reports from other media, court records and State Police told the story of how Sweet allegedly died by gunshot.
According to State Police, Godfrey said in his call to South Berwick police that night that he had had an argument with his girlfriend.
“Godfrey described a struggle over the gun, and [said] Sweet sustained a gunshot wound and was unresponsive. First responders arrived at the scene and rendered aid. Sweet was transported to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital,” State Police reported.
A State Police affidavit said, “A small child was located lying on the living room couch in the residence, and was promptly taken out of the home by a relative,” according to a report in Foster’s Daily Democrat.
Sweet died Sunday, March 23 at 10:15 p.m. from “a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death is homicide,” confirmed the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy conducted March 24 and described in a South Berwick Police Department’s Facebook post.
Sweet’s personal Facebook page is filled with family photos and mention of her latest waitress jobs. Her last post on Nov. 12 shows a photo of a sleeping infant with a pacifier in his mouth next to a smiling young boy with curly hair.
Sweet lived much of her life at the Brattle Street address with her aunt, Kathleen Sweet, who died a few years ago, according to a neighbor. Sherri Sweet continued to live in the house with Godfrey and her sons until this tragic event, the neighbor said.
The affidavit also described the scene and comments by Godfrey. Court filings said South Berwick police responded to the house and were met by Godfrey on a side porch, according to the Foster’s report.
According to the affidavit, Officers Marshal Davis and Jason Legendre “found Sherri Sweet … lying on the floor at the bottom of a flight of stairs in the front entry way area of the residence” and noted she was “suffering from major trauma to her head area and was bleeding profusely,” Foster’s reported.
Maine State Police homicide detective Justin Huntly, who wrote the affidavit, noted State Police interviewed Godfrey about three hours after his call to dispatchers. During the interview, Huntly reported, “I later spoke with Officer Legendre, who told me that at one point, he heard Jeremiah yell, ‘I can’t believe I did that.'”
Sweet’s online obituary, published by Murphy Funeral Home in Salem, Mass., said she “lit up the world with the brightest smile you’d ever see. Her laugh was contagious, the type that filled you up with pure happiness … She loved harder than anyone and will continue to do so from above.”
Visiting hours for Sweet will be held at Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St., Salem, Mass., from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 31. A funeral service will be the following day at 11 a.m. at Murphy Funeral Home.
