From her porch, Jessicas neighbor Megan Browning saw Jessica and Matthew return home. Jessica, at home with her three boys, still has occasional migraines, weakness in her left foot, and lingering amnesia about the night of her shooting. Owen proposed that Beam supervise the visits. Neither Matthew nor Jessica had been given a gunpowder-residue test. If he has to drive to downtown Griffin, he cleans and vacuums his car, so he can easily see if someone plants drugs or contraband. Jacob is gentle and jovial, articulating emotions that Jessica herself struggles to name. (Beam refused to talk to me. Contact Justice for Jessica on Messenger. 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. I made sure that I had another party with me, to insure the accusations wouldnt be made, Matthew said later. Jessica still has occasional migraines, weakness in her left foot, and lingering amnesia about the night of her shooting. GRAPHIC WARNING: Jessica Boynton, 19, was found lying in a pool of blood in a locked wardrobe in the home she shared with her husband Matthew Boynton in Griffin, Georgia back in April. They say she tried to commit suicide but, there is more to the story. A few months after the wedding, Denise and Amy went out for lunch. Am I recording it? They're saying it was self-inflicted, she said. I told him, You're going to have to go get it, because I cant get it out of the case., Do you know how it was that you got shot?, Have you ever had any type of thoughts about hurting yourself?. Her mouth covered with a breathing apparatus and several machines attached to her, in an effort to monitor her condition. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . Ha! No it wasn't. I guarantee you he wont a hundred per cent say what happened, he said. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. Matthew claims he received a text from Jessica stating she was going to commit suicide. Why is he getting so much protection and coverage? the agent said. And in both instances, he was cleared of wrongdoing.), That Matthew had found himself in a troubled relationship did not surprise Dix. She had a job interview and it was going to be her first step to freedom. I'll be back there in about two minutes. I didnt try to wash my handsnothing. He sounded like an eager student. I have been suffering for a while now and no one has noticed. Her parents had abandoned her when she was three, along with her sister and brother, and she grew up on a farm with her mothers adoptive parents. But asking those questions resulted in a threat. Everyone said, Beams grandson will get off, she went on. "You know, you're trying to match up times of where he is getting these text messages or how he's responding to them, that he has to be in the kitchen. One woman said that he would drive to her house and shine the lights of his patrol car into her windows. Community See All. That is where her memory ends. Underneath her . ), 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. 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. You cant force her into the truck. (Matthew refused to comment for this story.). Like Piper, Whitehouse was afraid to follow through. 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. Jessica Boynton | GBI changes information about evidence | 11alive.com Of course, it was through my efforts that we landed that account, but did I get any credit? And its inside that closet, where police found her seemingly shot in the head, laying on top of her husbands service weapon. In a composition notebook, Jessica documented the times she assumed Matthew had been with his girlfriend, and she jotted down notes for the lawyer. The psychologist wrote, of the older son, I asked him if he has been happy or sad. Both couples said that the shots occurred around 11 p.m.not at 1 a.m., when Matthew had reported them. Matthew testified that Jessicas grandparents were not blood-related, and could not be trusted with the children. 11Alive reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton, however, phone calls were not returned. Shes a grown lady, the lieutenant told him. Sanders said that he no longer goes anywhere unarmed. Nothing will happen to the kid.. If the phone was found by the GBI in the kitchenif the phone is on police body camera footage sitting on the counter by the microwave, and he was outside never returning insidehow is it possible for Matthew to text his girlfriend, while he's calling in shots fired while outside of the apartment? agent who lived near Spalding County and had worked with Beam on several cases over the years. You know you cant give a sworn statement and lie on it. Crying, Matthew set his body armor, badge, and police radio on the table in front of him, and agreed to resign from the department. By June 6, Matthew returned to full duty with a new service weapon in his holster. Philip Stinson, the professor at Bowling Green, maintains a database of officers who have been arrested around the country, and he said that, in response to the Lautenberg Amendment, a federal provision that was passed in 1996 and prohibits people convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms, cops accused of domestic violence are often charged with lesser offenses, as a kind of professional courtesy, so they can continue working. At the judges recommendation, they also arranged for a psychological evaluation. She believes that she and Matthew must have fought in the closet, and she never made it outside. For their sons first Christmas, Matthew took Jessica to her grandparents housethe first time shed seen them in monthsbut before she opened her presents he told her that they had to leave. Hardheaded. Whitehouse didnt understand why she was being directed to basically a hiding spot. She recorded the conversation on her phone, so that investigators could look for clues if she disappeared. How did his phone get in there and how was there activity on his phone if he was not in the kitchen with his phone?" Jessica gave him her old cell phone and notebook, and he keeps them in a safe at a location that he wont disclose, along with a shrink-wrapped box containing all the documents he collected. When the roles were reversed, fathers lost custody in only twelve per cent of cases. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . Jessica could see her children for only four hours on Sunday afternoons. The officers found Jessica in her bedroom closet, unconscious and lying on her side, her head on a bloody pillow. Although police departments have become more attentive to officers use of excessive force against civilians, the same scrutiny has not been applied to their potential for violent behavior at home. No, never. Jessica Boynton was married to Matthew Boynton, a local police officer and grandson of the county sheriff. Jessica found it darkly funny that it was a missing retainer, and not her brain injury, that ultimately led to Matthews arrest. Why did you write the damn statement? a sergeant asked him. Only eight were fired. Jessica and Matthew moved into a house across the street from the sheriff, Wendell Beam, and his wife. It was like he was spitting in my face, she said. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | kiiitv.com Is she gonna wear a mask or. Matthew, who had been restored to patrol duty, carried a new service gun and wore his uniform, and was accompanied by Beam. They have won. I mean you can't prove that," DeMarco. One of about 70 messages they exchange throughout the night. (Through his lawyer, Gibson told me that the headlock-and-Taser incident was all in good fun; most of the other allegations were untrue and are otherwise embellished.). Woman shot in head says cop husband staged her 'suicide' The "Sex and the City" alum, 56, took . In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. Matthew was called in for questioning. The new sheriff, Darrell Dix, the former lieutenant in the Griffin Police Department, told me that when he unlocked the doors to the sheriffs office on his first day on the job, January 1, 2017, he found nine industrial-sized trash bags full of shredded papers. The agent who told Mathews, Were gonna have a problem, apologized to the reporter and told her that he was answering questions about a case file that he had not reviewed for months. The sheriffs department does not respond to incidents inside the Griffin city limits, and he was the only one from his office there. She finished her high-school coursework online, and almost never saw her friends or family. There's so many useless words thrown in there, then there's so many words left out, she said. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . Hewrote a letter to Jessicas attorneyon June 10, in which he questioned the finding that Jessicas head injury was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, indicating that there was no investigation conducted by authorities at the hospital. When she asked Matthew about the shooting, nothing adds up, she wrote to another friend on Facebook. Jessica had to wean her baby before starting the job, so on Thursday night she and Matthew drove to Walmart, to buy formula. The next door neighbor interview was conducted after Matthew returned to full duty. Matthew Boynton is the grandson of Sheriff Beam. "That's the way we're gonna play this game, Sheila. That mentality spilled into his home life. However, the GBIs own photographs, search warrant and evidence log all corroborate that the officers phone was on the kitchen counter after Matthew had already left the apartment. Less than a week after Jessica emerged from her coma, DeMarco and another G.B.I. Anybody that went against him would be eliminated. Whitehouse said that Beam seemed concerned, but he said that shed have to write down her complaint. Leigh Goodmark, the director of the Gender Violence Clinic, at the University of Marylands Carey School of Law, speculates that one reason for the dearth of research is a reluctance to fund a study that will bring attention to an uncomfortable dilemma: that, as Goodmark says, those policing the crime and those committing it are often the same person.. New Columns From Your Class Correspondents - Cornellians | Cornell underwear and dental retainer belonging to his now-former wife, Jessica Lester, . There are too many useless words thrown in, she said. King told me, Youd think it would have been simple enough to put bags on her hands and test them for gunshot residue. The G.B.I.s report never mentioned the picture of Jessicas bruise that Kathy had given the agents. It was retrieved from the kitchen counter in front of the microwave oven," she probed further. He's meeting his buddy at the local Waffle House. Matthew and the boys temporarily moved in with Courtney Callaway, the dispatcher he was dating. Jessica Lester started dating Matthew Boynton when she was fifteen. Marc, we hope to see you at Reunion. 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. The agent had that phone, I think DeMarco, Chris DeMarco had the phone and they was [sic] trying to get in the gate, and, uh, he accidentally hit, I guess, the last number dialed, called or whatever. Her limp body is on the floor, just behind the door. The first officer she saw in the parking lot was Beam. A message to Matthews phone is received and marked as read, from his girlfriend--from inside the evidence bag. Occasionally, Jessica still reflexively asked Jacob for permission to do things like visit her grandparents or go to the store. On a hospital-admission form, Jessica was described as a 19 year old reported to have shot herself in the right skull. But Vernon Henderson, a trauma surgeon for more than two decades, who treated Jessica, wrote that her injury did not fit with that description; neither of her hands had any evidence of any gunpowder stippling. And her wound was on the top of her skull, which suggested that she would have had to hold the gun above her head, pointing downwarda very unusual direction in which to point the gun at ones self with the intention of committing suicide, Henderson wrote. Jessica Boynton was married to Matthew Boynton, a local police officer and grandson of the county sheriff. 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. A second psychiatrist thought she had appropriate mood and affect; appropriate judgment and insight. Her surgeon, Henderson, wrote that she was a very positive person who is embracing the opportunities that a new lease on life afforded her by her recent recovery. He went on, She has a sense of humor and has a gentle and calm personality. After Gibson left, citizens came forward to say that they, too, were terrified of him. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. She speaks lovingly of her children and the need to and desire to see them.. They were becoming estranged, and when something h. 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. According to the order, which Matthew had petitioned the court to issue, probable cause exists that Family Violence has occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Jessica was ordered to have a psychological evaluation. No, that doesnt ring right, Martha told them. The next day, Yates texted the D.A. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | abc10.com - KXTV The subsequent investigation was short-lived, with it having been deemed a "civil matter.". Denise said that Amy confided that Matthew had once hit her and that their relationship was strained. Jones checks on a locked closet door between the master bedroom and hallway, across from the bathroom. That's the bottom line for me. . At the time of the shooting Jessica was looking to make a new start for herself and two young sons. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. Jessica Boynton was found shot in th. After getting home around 10:45 PM, a neighbor heard a gunshot from the Boynton home. There are a lot of questions that I would love to have answered. Two deputies woke Jessicas grandparents and told them that Jessica had committed suicide, using Matthews gun. Ive never, ever wanted to hurt myself before., Do you think Matthew was incapable of doing this?, Honestly, I dont know, she said. Most important to me. Denise was on a science-curriculum committee with Matthews stepmother, Amy, a teacher in the same district. Dusty and her husband drove to Jessicas apartment. Her shoulder-length, blonde hair was saturated in crimson. The notification was made following an April 15, 2016, shooting incident - ruled by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to be a suicide attempt - at the home of Jessica Boynton and her now-estranged husband, Griffin Police Department Officer Matthew Boynton. Last summer, the sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva, articulated a common justification for not considering domestic violence as a concern: in defending his decision to employ a deputy who had been accused of stalking and physically abusing his ex-girlfriend, he told a local reporter that it was a private relationship between two consenting adults that went bad. The violence was seen as unrelated to job performance, an activity that could be understood only within the context of a relationship. Her aunt Kathy, who lives on the farm, said, With Jessicas family background, there was probably just a feeling of Oh, Ive finally found someone who loves me.. Gibson had worked in the sheriffs office for twenty-eight years, and he cultivated an aura of invincibility. Mathews, the publisher of The Grip and its only reporter, submitted an Open Records Act request to the magistrates court, where judges swear in new officers. A fence separates their house from an open field, where nine cows and two donkeys graze. When Jessica graduated from high school, her grandparents held a party for her and projected a movie on the side of their barn. Sheriff Beam can carry a weapon, he said. I think weve got the right to confront and cross-examine anybody thats gonna be offering testimony, Owen said. 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. Im going to do it my way., Jessicas shooting was the subject of hushed conversations among Wendell Beams staff at the Spalding County sheriffs office. My kids are at home with her, so I'm trying to hurry up and get back there., I'm driving. The following year, Gibson put a female colleague in a headlock and held a Taser against her temple. He was charged with theft a year later but was released on bail and has never been in jail. Do you think Matthew did something? he asked her bluntly. The county sheriff ruled her dead at the scene. She told the agent, they were at home when they argued about his girlfriend and the photo that Jessica found on his phone that night. 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.). looked into the allegations. He was Spalding County. In April 2016, hours after an argument with his wife Jessica, Griffin, Georgia police officer Matthew Boynton radios for assistance and reports hearing two gunshots coming from inside his home. In early May, after three weeks in a coma, Jessica began to regain consciousness. It was like she needed permission for everything, she said. I know that hes a police officer, and Im not really anybody, she said. When Willey asked Matthew about it, she said, he told her he intended to burn the bag, which Jessica had packed one night when she was planning to leave him. At the time of the shooting Jessica was looking to make a new start for herself and two young sons. closed its case, concluding that Jessicas wounds were self-inflicted. She was wearing fluffy slippers. Then he called E.M.S. But a Griffin city official said that the document couldnt be found. Jessica was still missing her orthodontic retainer. While sifting through pages and pages of the report, a GBI evidence photo caught her attention. They had wiped stuff off the computers, Dix said. Jessicas grandparents hoped that this development would help their case. According to Jessica Lester, Boynton's ex-wife who filed a . Jessica Lester's friends persuaded her to date Matthew Boynton, a boy in the eleventh grade, by saying, "If you don't like him, you can always break up . The agency deferred to its chief medical examiner, who spent ninety minutes on the case and never examined Jessica. I dont think the text was quite that literal, Jacob said. A key piece of evidence was photographed inside the kitchen after officers arrived on the scene. Not long afterward, she saw Matthew walk briskly to his truck. Police departments have become more attentive to officers use of excessive force on the job, but that concern rarely extends to the home. She just said that she's been experiencing suicidal thoughts right now, she told me to take care of the boys. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates - KTVB Matthews father and stepmother visited the next week. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | wwltv.com When female officers told him that they were afraid of the patrol-division captain, David Gibson, whom Beam had promoted, he did nothing. It was almost like her personality got squished out of her.. A Griffin Police Officer's wife herself, the reporter called DeMarco, on Sept. 28, the investigator who was in charge of the investigation for the GBI, to question him about the case and the photo that nagged her, and that for her, called into question how anything they investigated was trustworthy.
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