Cleveland Woman Convicted of Nephew’s Killing Uses Social Media to Seek Release
Brittany Barksdale, a Cleveland woman convicted of killing her nephew in 2022, has recently stirred up significant online discussion by posting to social media using the hashtag #freeme.
Barksdale was found guilty of reckless homicide after fatally shooting her 10-year-old nephew, Cayden Williams. The incident occurred in June 2022 when she was handling a firearm and accidentally shot through the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted off a mirror and struck Cayden, who later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
She began serving a reduced sentence of 2.5 years in October 2023. Following her incarceration, social media posts began appearing on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday.
Under a now-private account, Barksdale shared images alongside the #freeme hashtag, prompting widespread commentary and concern online. 19 News learned of these posts after noticing a spike in traffic to its previous stories covering Barksdale’s case.
In response to inquiries from 19 News, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections stated, “We are investigating this matter, but we preliminarily suspect these photos were sent to friends or family from the ViaPath tablet and posted on social media by an outside individual.”
