Military trial set to begin Monday for soldier accused in Fort Stewart shooting

FORT STEWART, Ga. (WTOC) - A military trial is set to begin for a soldier accused of shooting 5 people at Fort Stewart in August 2025, despite pleading guilty to lesser charges earlier this year.

The 28-year-old logistics Sergeant, Quornelius Radford, pleaded guilty to about a half dozen charges at the end of March, but the government did not feel that what he pleaded to-- adequately represented what he had done.

5 soldiers were injured, and a 6th was shot at.

All those soldiers were assigned to the Second Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. Radford has been held in pretrial confinement at the Naval Consolidated Brig Charleston ever since.

Radford reportedly used a personal handgun, not a military weapon, according to military leaders, and no previous deployments.

The six soldiers who helped subdue the Fort Stewart shooter have been awarded medals by the US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll in a ceremony later that week.

The government is now proceeding to trial on more serious charges of attempted premeditated and unpremeditated murder.

Radford entered an open-ended plea in March, meaning there was no agreement with the prosecution.

He pled guilty to one specification of domestic violence, one specification of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, and four specifications of aggravated assault by inflicting grievous bodily harm.

His motive- still unclear to the public.

Radford plead not guilty to two specifications of attempted premeditated murder and four specifications of attempted unpremeditated murder... The trial for those charges starts Monday, June 15th.

Because Radford pleaded open-ended, the government is free to prove the more serious charges.

What the government must prove

The government has the burden to prove Radford intended to take someone’s life that day.

When he pleaded guilty in March, Radford said he knew he would be hurting people but did not intend to kill anybody. He said he was expressing suicidal ideation and hoped he would lose his life in a shootout.

For the attempted premeditated murder charges, the government must prove Radford intended to take the life of another and that he thought about it beforehand.

Radford opted to have a judge-only trial or a bench trial, as opposed to a panel trial, which is similar to a civilian jury. A military judge will hear the evidence and make that determination.

Defense and trial logistics

Radford has two trial defense attorneys assigned to him through trial defense services.

In the military justice system, every soldier is afforded a military defense counsel. Soldiers are also free to hire civilian counsel, who usually work with military defense counsel.

The trial is scheduled for potentially two weeks long, though bench trials usually streamline things because there is no jury selection.

Military trials are public, and members of the media, the community, victims, victims’ families and Radford’s family are all permitted to attend. WTOC’s Madalyn Bierster will be covering this trial each day.

Sentencing considerations

Whether Radford is found guilty of the additional charges or simply sentenced on what he already pleaded to, the sentencing will run similarly. The military judge will set that sentence.

The judge must take into account matters in aggravation on behalf of the government and matters in mitigation on behalf of Radford. Matters in aggravation in this case include multiple victims, some who sustained serious injuries.

Matters in mitigation the defense would argue include that Radford accepted responsibility to the charges he pleaded to, saving the need of a trial, plus nobody died. Radford claims he was suffering from mental health problems, though that may not rise to a viable defense.

Victims who sustained injuries are permitted to address the court on the issue of sentencing.

If the judge sentences Radford to confinement, the military has facilities throughout the country where he could potentially serve time.

Prior Criminal History

Liberty County court records show Radford was arrested in Hinesville on May 18 for running a stop sign. After being pulled over by Georgia State Patrol, Radford was charged with driving under the influence.

Radford bonded out of jail that same day. He was on bond at the time that this shooting happened.

He was scheduled for an arraignment in the case on August 20th- exactly two weeks away from the day of the shooting.

According to a spokesperson for the Army, Fort Stewart’s command structure was not aware of Radford’s charge prior to the shooting.

It’s unclear why the military wasn’t aware of Radford’s charge.

WTOC Investigates reached out to Georgia State Patrol to ask whether the agency was aware of Radford’s military status at the time of his arrest, but have not heard back. We’ve also put in a request for footage of the arrest.