In a composition notebook, Jessica documented the times she assumed Matthew had been with his girlfriend, and she jotted down notes for the lawyer. In an interview with the police, she said that she found him intimidating. Statements from Jessica Boynton and Matthew Boynton are logged into evidence," said a statement written by Yancy March 13. About See All. Although Gibson had been indicted on fourteen charges, he was allowed to plead guilty, in June, 2017, to only two, for violating his oath of office, and he was granted first-offender status. . The judges are very swayed by their own reactions to each person, Meier said. Four of her grandchildren had taken target-shooting classes together, but Jessica had refused to participate. The Griffin Police Department had not received any complaints about Matthews use of force, but Darrell Dix, a former lieutenant, told me that he and some of his colleagues worried that Matthew had a domineering and one-dimensional approach to his work, which could provoke fights and scuffles. He had not learned that there is a human side of this, too, Dix said. But a Griffin city official said that the document couldnt be found. Petition Justice For Jessica Boynton Change.org Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . The chief would eventually like to get his officer back, as well as his service weapon back, DeMarco told Matthew. ), In a private Facebook message, Willey complained to a friend that Matthews demeanor was emotionless but very authoritative. She had learned about Jessicas shooting after probing stories were published by Sheila Mathews in The Grip, a free newspaper in Spalding County, and aired on the Atlanta television station 11Alive, reported by Brendan Keefe. Jessicas grandparents, who are Baptist, were willing to help her bring up the child, but Jessica decided to settle down with Matthew, her first boyfriend. Then he would handcuff me and put me on the hood of his patrol car and have oral sex with me, she wrote in a statement. agents, asking them to investigate how Jessica had been injured there. After Jessica was shot, Matthew, then-20, was back on duty with his gun on his hip, before key interviews were conducted and the GBI director wrote an official letter about the cases conclusion, stating that the shooting was ruled a suicide.. to say that he had the original document. Jessicas recovery was so swift that people at the hospital called her the miracle child. Although her skull had been fractured, neither bullet had penetrated it. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | abc10.com - KXTV Jessica, who was in tenth grade, was less popular. That mentality spilled into his home life. Yates had lost his previous job, in 2014, as chief of the police department in Jonesboro, Arkansas, after he called a local reporter smelly and said that dealing with her was like trying to pick up a dog turd by the clean end. She resigned, citing the level of stress and anxiety created by a public official who commands a small army., Within two hours of Sanderss Facebook comment, Yates informed Sanders that his private Facebook messages would be made accessible to any persons interested in the entire scope of your actions, activities, motives and history. He added, This material will be released in the interest of transparency and context. The department had obtained the messages a year earlier, as part of the investigation into Jessicas gym bag. I didnt try to wash my handsnothing. He sounded like an eager student. Jessicas grandparents live on two hundred acres of farmland in Pike County, a twenty-five-minute drive from her apartment. No, that doesnt ring right, Martha told them. He would flash his lights and pull her over, and force her to have sex with him. She said that all she could remember about that night was that shed gone to Walmart. Owen proposed that Beam supervise the visits. It could have been simply that um, all his, he left his stuff there. But asking those questions resulted in a threat. Jessica is placid and effortlessly polite, warm without being intimate. He never let me go anywhere without me sharing my location with him. She said that, when they talked about what happened to Jessica, he laughs about it. Body cam shows moment Georgia cop's wife was found dead To obtain the search warrant, a lieutenant submitted a sworn statement explaining that there was probable cause that Sanders had been involved in two commercial burglaries; later, the lieutenant said that this was the result of a cut-and-paste error.). I mean he might have grabbed my arm before, but I don't think he would intentionally do anything to hurt mebut like I said, he's changed so much here, lately, she said. She was told that, to prove that a crime had been committed, the district attorney needed to establish that the oath of office had been administered to Matthew. But I never look in it.. Ive always been such a firm believer in our justice system, she said. Jessicas grandparents wrote letters to the G.B.I., the governor, the city manager, and the district attorney to request that the investigation into Jessicas shooting be reopened. And if shes capable of attempting to take her own life, theres a chance that she might do something to these children.. Beam dropped the matter. The Link Between Domestic Violence and Mass Shootings, The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders. 13 talking about this. She wore hand-me-downs and liked to take nature photographs. Hankinson briefly paused during the hearing to see if any statutes said that attempted suicide was a form of child endangerment. Jessica didnt have her own credit card or car, so if she needed something from the supermarket she texted Matthew, who either took her to the store himself or asked Beam or his wife to deliver the item. Its always more exaggerated every time. She felt uncomfortable that Matthew told Beam every detail of his life, but that the conversations were all confidential.. But the report and follow-up interviews with the lead investigator make the case as clear as mud to one reporter in the small town where it happened. Sheriff Beam can carry a weapon, he said. GBI/Griffin Police Dept. Jessica and Jacob have a son together, and their living room and kitchen are arranged like a nursery school, with a poster displaying the ABCs, a whiteboard, and wooden coat hangers shaped like trucks. The agent asked her if she had ever held her husbands service weapon. Jessica would not touch a gun, she said. I didnt know if it was an active scenario, he later told investigators. Violation of his oath of office - one of two felony charges for which the Griffin Police Department in 2017 arrested Matthew Boynton, one of its own officers - was reportedly at risk of being dismissed because his sworn oath of office, the signed document, could not be located. Neither Matthew nor Jessica had been given a gunpowder-residue test. She believes that she and Matthew must have fought in the closet, and she never made it outside. Denise was on a science-curriculum committee with Matthews stepmother, Amy, a teacher in the same district. In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. Two months later, Jessica was hired as an assistant teacher at a child-care center in Griffin. The babys muffled cry echoes, getting louder as the officers sweep their guns back and forth, searching for the shooter. Jessicas grandmother made an appointment with a lawyer who could help her file for divorce. I don't know if it's just his job or what, but like I said I don't think he would intentionally hurt me.. Marc, we hope to see you at Reunion. They rented an apartment in Griffin, in a complex of beige two-story buildings surrounding a swimming pool. The following year, Gibson put a female colleague in a headlock and held a Taser against her temple. On his way, at 12:54 a.m., he said, he received a text from Jessica: I cant do this anymore. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . I think the city thought this would be business as usual, until a local reporter and a loser truck driver got involved, Will Sanders said. His flashlights beam reveals a smiling family of four. The next door neighbor interview was conducted after Matthew returned to full duty. When facts are wrong, evidence altered to fit theories and threats made, how does the GBI remain the last word on the case? My mama told me stories about going to lunch with my father and his friends in the sixties, he said to me. Matthew asked Beam to phone him in the morning to wake him up. Police departments have become more attentive to officers use of excessive force on the job, but that concern rarely extends to the home. No. I have been suffering for a while now and no one has noticed. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates - KVUE Jessica and Matthew left their wedding reception, which her family hosted, after less than an hour. He hears a baby crying as he carefully steps into the bedroom where a dark brown crib is situated. SHEILA A. MATHEWS ::: The July 29 arrest of former Griffin Police Department Officer Matthew Boynton stemmed from a theft report filed Dec. 19, 2016, by his former wife, Jessica Lester. Indentations in the walls of Jessicas closet suggested that one bullet had been shot at an upward angleit entered the wall near the top of the closetand another bullet hit the wall near the floor. The psychologist wrote, of the older son, I asked him if he has been happy or sad. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . So were going to try to expedite this as fast as possible, and, when I say expedite, I mean the next few weeks. DeMarco assured Matthew that his phone, which had been seized during the investigation, would be returned. After high school, he worked as a jailer at the Pike County sheriffs office before being hired as a patrol officer in Griffin, the largest city in Spalding County. Boynton, who was . At the time of the shooting Jessica was looking to make a new start for herself and two young sons. Like many docile, self-effacing women, Jessica has some hidden pockets of pride, and one of them is her skills as a writer. Then-Griffin Police Department officer Matthew Boynton was arrested on July 28, 2017, for giving a false statement to his own department stating he was not i. There's so many useless words thrown in there, then there's so many words left out, she said. GRIFFIN, Ga. Who shot the officers wife? Its always different. He asked me to go get it out before, and I told him, Youre going to have to.. This blows my mind.. They recorded interviews with eight Griffin police officers, some of whom Matthew considered good friends; one informed the agents that Matthew was telling me how she kind of acts crazy sometimes when she dont get her way. The G.B.I. The fact that they dont believe that she did this to herselfI think theyre not taking it seriously, Owen said. That question lingers--but not for Georgia Bureau of Investigations, who said the case is closed--repeatedly stating that they are satisfied with their findings. I would have said, I can't do this anymore, comma, take care of Tolin and Tyler, period. I would have said, suicidal not suicide thoughts.. Like Piper, Whitehouse was afraid to follow through. If you dont want to be with me anymore, Jessica texted him, Im not going to stay here and play house. Matthew, who had begun spending his free days with Callaway, told her, Its not gonna work for us. Matthew called a Griffin police lieutenant for advice. Jones eyes a small child sleeping on a bottom bunk bed in the back bedroom. The agency deferred to its chief medical examiner, who spent ninety minutes on the case and never examined Jessica. Which is very off that this happened, because I never, ever had any thoughts like this before. My understanding of the laws of physics is that one person cannot be in two places at the same time," Mathews said in an interview with 11Alive. A phone that text messages were sent and received to/from following his recollection of hearing,POP-POP! and running out of the apartment. When I visited them in August, Jacob mentioned that one of the boys had recently done a spin in the living room and called it a pirouette. Jessica seemed more energized by the comment than by anything else we discussed. ). She and the boys planned to move into her sister Dustys house on Friday, April 15th, and the next week she would begin working at a chiropractors office. If that's what you want to do. Amy fell to pieces, Denise said. I was going to report this, but, like he said, who will they believe? Another woman, who used methamphetamine, said that sometimes Gibson followed her as she drove. Previously city included Delray Beach FL. He had filed nearly a hundred Open Records Act requests about Jessicas shooting, and he shared what he learned with Jessicas family, as well as with The Grip. Her limp body is on the floor, just behind the door. The sheriffs department does not respond to incidents inside the Griffin city limits, and he was the only one from his office there. I know that hes a police officer, and Im not really anybody, she said. I would fight you tooth and nail defending it. But, after receiving thousands of documents from Sanders, Martha stopped driving through Griffin, because she was afraid. And I could have been the next target.. I hope he goes to jail for this shit, she said. Only the pillow under her head was bloody. However, with the later discovery of previously-unknown evidence, it evolved into an . Jessicas only diagnosis was acute stress disorder, which, the evaluator wrote, occurs when an individual is exposed to actual or threatened death. The evaluator added that her symptoms are normal and to be expected through circumstances such as hers.. Matthew Boynton, 21, had just started work as a Griffin police officer. In early May, after three weeks in a coma, Jessica began to regain consciousness. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton cleared in wife's - YouTube They had wiped stuff off the computers, Dix said. underwear and dental retainer belonging to his now-former wife, Jessica Lester, . Mike Yates, the chief of the Griffin police, told me in an e-mail that Matthews case had nothing to do with domestic violence. I would have picked something different, Jessica went on. 9,226 people follow this. Police found Jessica Boynton in the closet of her home with a gunshot wound to the head, and a police issued firearm in her hand. He drove to a nearby Waffle House to have a late dinner with a fellow Griffin police officer. He grabs his police radio, stationed and charging on top of the white microwave in the kitchen, and leaves his phone on the counter. Jail trustiesmodel inmates who did menial jobs at the sheriffs officetold him that theyd spent two weeks destroying paperwork, at the previous administrations instruction. Armed with body camera attached to their uniforms, the officers burst through the door, quickly passing Matthews phone, a black and grey Verizon LG smartphone, on the kitchen counter. Law enforcement was in his genes. After you got on the radio and you were outside communicating on the radio, you never went back in to actually check, check on the kids, the agent questioned Matthew about once he removed himself from the apartment. Both couples said that the shots occurred around 11 p.m.not at 1 a.m., when Matthew had reported them. Check out the page. In 2012, Piper complained to Beam, and he said hed look into the accusations, if she put them in writing. In the past thirty years, the criminal-justice system has become more responsive to domestic violence, but family courts have been largely insulated from this cultural change. He calls out for Jessica, but no answer. She became dead seriousId never seen her so serious, Denise said. To text back long story I'll tell you later.. Just one minute later, Matthewcalls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. Just before 2 a.m. on April 15th, Wendell Beam asked the sheriff of Pike County to send officers to the house. At the recommendation of the captain, and with Beams approval, an outside agency investigated Gibson and concluded that he was a predator. In the spring of 2015, Beam allowed Gibson to retire, keeping his pension. In response to 11Alives questions about the case, the GBI said, We are confident in the investigation that was conducted., RELATED: Jessica Boynton says she's free as a bird', MORE | Watch the Facebook Live with Brendan Keefe. I dont doubt the findings of the G.B.I., he told me. When facts are wrong, evidence altered to fit theories and threats made, how does theGBI remain the last word on the Jessica Boynton case? She was wearing fluffy slippers. Its a question 11Alive investigators asked a few months ago, when Griffin Police Officer Matthew Boyntons wife, Jessica, allegedly shot herself in the head with his service weapon, inside the master bedroom closetlocked from the inside. Thats the game here, he said. 11Alive - BREAKING | Matthew Boynton, who was under - Facebook He was Spalding County. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. Is she gonna wear a mask or. Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton cleared in wife's - YouTube Jessica thought that Matthew, who was baby-faced but muscular, looked rich; he wore Ralph Lauren boots and collared shirts from Hollister. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . Until recently, Matthew's grandfather, Wendell Beam, reigned as Spalding County sheriff. Not long afterward, she saw Matthew walk briskly to his truck. Here lately I have not been able to recognize the person I see in the mirror. For a time, Sanders thought that the source of Gibsons power might be connected to the Dixie Mafia (a gang based in the South), or a gambling ring, or some hidden knowledge that afforded him a lifetime of leverage over Beam. He had a reputation for being kind and personable but also passive, indecisive, and resistant to change. Police Interrogation and Confession of Matthew Boynton, Wife - YouTube Jessica could see her children for only four hours on Sunday afternoons. Sheila Mathews publishes The Grip, an independent . Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam behind false death notification in He enters, checking the master bedroom. Sanders offered Willey a hundred and twenty dollars to sneak into Matthews utility closet and get Jessicas bag. Take care of the children. Hahaha you about have me a heart attack freak!! Was the investigation a mess up or a cover up? According to the report, GBI investigators never conducted a re-canvass of the apartment complex, and did not talk with the immediate next door neighbor for four and a half months, despite reports from other residents that they heard a single gunshot hours earlier than the officers call claiming shots had been fired. At the time, I was well known in my field by people who had some cloutshe worked in hospital risk management and had friends in law enforcementand what we should have done is pulled some strings, she said. John Padget, MS '59, writes from Key West, FL, reporting, "My Cornell roommate, Bruce Whilton, of Gloucester, MA, and Punta Gorda, FL, passed away peacefully in June 2022 in Punta Gorda after a long and well-lived life. Officer Robert Brian Jones shouts, as he travels deeper inside the two-bedroom apartmenthis weapon drawn. He bangs on the locked closet door. nd police notify Jessicas family that she has died. On April 15, 2016, in the town of Griffin, Georgia. In the spring of 2013, when she was sixteen and had dated Matthew for a year, she took her grandparents into the kitchen, closed the door, and told them, apologizing, that she was pregnant. I think weve got the right to confront and cross-examine anybody thats gonna be offering testimony, Owen said. She wasnt sure how to unlock the safety lever on the holster. Its just a hobby, he said. The rest of us enjoyed her graduation party, Martha, her grandmother, said. Community See All. Haha I'm sorry I didn't think about that lol he sends to her after receiving a text from her--moments following his text from his wife. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. Matthew, grandson of then-sheriff of Spalding County, texts a fellow Griffin Police officer. Can you please dispatch a unit out to my location? he said calmly. At first he lied, but within fifteen minutes he acknowledged that hed known about Jessicas bag all along. | Examine the evidence yourself, calls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. (The purposes of such a sweeping request were never clear. DeMarco pressed Mathews. Willey contacted Jessica on Facebook and warned her that Matthew was not taking good care of the children; they were subsisting, she said, on cheese puffs, Fudge Rounds, corn dogs, and Mountain Dew, and sleeping at odd hours. Although its possible that Jessicas head hit the wall after she shot herself, there was no blood on the wall or on the clothes in the closet. DeMarco told Matthew that his clothes might need to be collected as evidence. Cases like thiswe dont usually have someone to talk to like you, because youre not here, Coleman told her. . They were hurt.. They decided to get married. Matthew and the boys temporarily moved in with Courtney Callaway, the dispatcher he was dating. No it wasn't. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. I dont think the text was quite that literal, Jacob said. Making his way outside, seconds later, he calls for assistance over his radio. Missing evidence jeopardized felony case against Matthew Boynton Thats something that yall would have to figure out., The G.B.I.s theory of Jessicas shooting depended on her being suicidal, but she gave no indication of being depressed. Contact Justice for Jessica on Messenger. Jessica Boynton was found shot in th. Family grieves death of their 22-year-old son after Gwinnett County double shooting, Online petition to deannex the City of South Fulton has hundreds of signatures, Veterinarian shares summertime safety tips for pets, Who shot the officer's wife? Jessica Boynton was married to Matthew Boynton, a local police officer and grandson of the county sheriff. Jessica could not come within three hundred yards of Matthew or her children.