Ashley Dunn, the lead teacher in Jessicas classroom, said, We were all, like, You can do an awesome job working with ten two-year-olds but you cant see your own kids? On weekends, Dunn sometimes asked Jessica to babysit for her own children. 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. 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. She silently surveyed the walls, where her family had taped pictures of her sons. Only the pillow under her head was bloody. This is not the first time I have had suicide thoughts. 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. The subsequent investigation was short-lived, with it having been deemed a "civil matter.". My mama told me stories about going to lunch with my father and his friends in the sixties, he said to me. At the store, they got into a fight, and when they left Jessica said she didnt want to get into the car. Never, she said. His phone was given to someone else at Griffin PD, they put the phone in the thing because they knew GBI wanted it, and that's where we're gonna be while he was taken to the police department. He enters, checking the master bedroom. Willey wanted to help Jessica because she was scared of Matthew, too. Matthew was now dating Shelby Willey, a young mother who had recently separated from her husband. Im, like, You dont have to ask me, he said. Matthew has never been charged in this case, nor has anyone else, and it was labelled as closed. Jessica was found with a gunshot wound in the closet of the couple's bedroom. Cases like thiswe dont usually have someone to talk to like you, because youre not here, Coleman told her. Only eight were fired. My dream is that, one day, the Feds show up and say, We want the notebook, he said. Theres no second shot. He's asked me to go get it out before. In the spring of 2019, child-protective services closed the case and recommended, based on reports submitted by the childrens psychologist, who had seen the boys for twenty-five sessions, that they no longer spend time with Matthew. Occasionally, Jessica still reflexively asked Jacob for permission to do things like visit her grandparents or go to the store. The following year, Gibson put a female colleague in a headlock and held a Taser against her temple. She loved those kids more than anything, and she knows how it feels to grow up without a mom, she said. You are your own person. Matthew asked Beam to phone him in the morning to wake him up. Few states mandate that custody evaluators have domestic-violence training; judges often characterize the allegations as mudslinging and focus not on their veracity but on which party appears to be the better parent. And in both instances, he was cleared of wrongdoing.), That Matthew had found himself in a troubled relationship did not surprise Dix. Matthew was called in for questioning. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . He spoke about how he gambled with a mythical figure known in the sheriffs office as the Wood Chipper, because, supposedly, he had used such a device to kill a woman. Sheriff Beam can carry a weapon, he said. 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. 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. He hears a baby crying as he carefully steps into the bedroom where a dark brown crib is situated. Jessica is placid and effortlessly polite, warm without being intimate. Somebody that shoots themself in the head means business. 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. She concluded that shed chosen the wrong tactic. ), After several months, a male officer told a captain in Internal Affairs that he didnt understand why Whitehouses complaint had been ignored. Difference between non-contested & adultery divorce? she wrote. 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. Hahaha you about have me a heart attack freak!! It was retrieved from the kitchen counter in front of the microwave oven," she probed further. I hope he goes to jail for this shit, she said. The county sheriff ruled her dead at the scene. Matthew makes it home, jumps out of his truck, races through the breezeway of his apartment building and bolts up the stairs. But Griffin Police Chief Michael Yates said, Officer Boynton was not the shooter and trusts the investigations outcome. By Rachel Aviv. Police departments have become more attentive to officers use of excessive force on the job, but that concern rarely extends to the home. | Examine the evidence yourself, calls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. She became dead seriousId never seen her so serious, Denise said. "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. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us. Hardheaded. They wanted me to come back Friday for orientation for the job, she said. At the judges recommendation, they also arranged for a psychological evaluation. September 30, 2019. I didnt know if it was an active scenario, he later told investigators. He calls out for Jessica, but no answer. With his gun raised and arms poised, he holds his weapon out in front of him with both hands. provided images. GRIFFIN, Ga. - Matthew Boynton was arrested by his fellow Griffin Police officers and taken to the Spalding County Jail on felony charges. Eleven Griffin police officers arrived at the apartment complex. She made a full recovery, but doesnt remember a thing. The first officer she saw in the parking lot was Beam. The G.B.I. In July, he was charged with two felonies: making false statements and violating his oath of office. A message to Matthews phone is received and marked as read, from his girlfriend--from inside the evidence bag. 2023 Cond Nast. No, I cant even get it out of the case, she said. But it was used after Matthew had said he left the apartment in fear of his life, and did not return. Within three hours, she received a copy of Matthews official oath, which the D.A.s office had been trying to find for six months. Is Jessica Boynton still alive? 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. The Link Between Domestic Violence and Mass Shootings, The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders. Ad Choices. At the time of the shooting Jessica was looking to make a new start for herself and two young sons. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . It was actually from him. 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.. My kids are at home with her, so I'm trying to hurry up and get back there., I'm driving. Matthews father and stepmother visited the next week. And that's all I needed, so I was on cloud nine.". In all my years in law enforcement, when someone shoots himself in the head its one and done, Jessica Whitehouse, a deputy there at the time, told me. When the men wanted tea, they just shook their glasses.. 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. She was leaving her husband of just six months. On his way, at 12:54 a.m., he said, he received a text from Jessica: I cant do this anymore. To text back long story I'll tell you later.. 11Alive reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton, however, phone calls were not returned. It interests me on a psychological level. He had conducted his own canvass of Jessicas apartment complex; retraced Matthews journey to the Waffle House, timing the drive with a stopwatch; and got permission from the new tenants of Jessica and Matthews apartment to inspect the holes in the closet. Matthews case was presented to a grand jury in July, 2018. A lot, she said, doesnt add up, especially since, she said, she had reason to live. Thats the game here, he said. Shes offended by the idea that she would have composed something as syntactically messy as the suicide text she is alleged to have written. I was scared to death, because I couldnt find him, that she would shoot me, shoot him, and then kill herself.. Wheres my baby? Jessica asked, once her breathing tubes were removed. 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. Sanders said that he no longer goes anywhere unarmed. DeMarco pressed Mathews. She felt she needed men in power on her side if she were to challenge a culture in which men let other men get away with what they please. The inability to pinpoint the source of Gibsons dominanceand of Beams capacity to shield other menseemed only to feed the drama and paranoia. No it wasn't. Jessica Boynton, 19, was a stay-at-home mom to 8-month-old Tyler and 2-year-year old Tollin. It's a question 11Alive investigators asked a few months ago, when Griffin Police Officer Matthew Boynton's wife, Jessica, allegedly shot herself in the head with his service weapon, inside . This year, an independent panel found that the typical penalty for New York City police officers found guilty of domestic violencesome had punched, kicked, choked, or threatened their victims with gunswas thirty lost vacation days. 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. 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. 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. But the sheriff still loomed large in their relationship. And based on the totality of circumstances, all the facts and circumstances, all the forensics, and the conclusion of the case, as well as the GBI's and the district attorney's recommendation, is no, he did not cause her injuries, Yates concluded in an interview with 11Alive for"Trigger: Who shot the officer's wife.". He bangs on the locked closet door. 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. Can you please dispatch a unit out to my location? he said calmly. I mean you can't prove that," DeMarco. Matthew called a Griffin police lieutenant for advice. For the next three and a half weeks, Jessica remains in a coma with a traumatic brain injurytubes protruding from her brain to alleviate pressure and fluid. Neither Matthew nor Jessica had been given a gunpowder-residue test. She just said that she's been experiencing suicidal thoughts right now, she told me to take care of the boys. No one responded to Marthas letters. provided images. In a composition notebook, Jessica documented the times she assumed Matthew had been with his girlfriend, and she jotted down notes for the lawyer. I hope those stories went too far, he said, referring to the notorious Wood Chipper. 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. At the Griffin Police Department, concerns about domestic violence have apparently been so slight that in 2018 the department hired an officer whose personnel record showed that he had recently been accused by his childs mother of threatening her with a gun. Haha Im sorry I didnt think about that lol, he wrote. Like, how hours after the shooting, the phone was put into an evidence bag, sealed and logged into GBI evidence, it was still calling Matthew's girlfriend. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. His flashlights beam reveals a smiling family of four. In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . In his personnel file there, a supervisor described him as fiercely loyal but stiff and unwilling to bend. Another officer described him as the type who wants to make ten arrests a day if he could. A senior officer privately advised Matthew, Lighten up a little bit, man.. Matthews service gun was under her stomach. It began as a visionary notionthat patients could die with dignity at home. (Matthews lawyer said, in an e-mail, The ultimate aim of both the GBIs investigation and the grand jurys inquiry was to find the truth. Im glad to know theres still advocacy in the practice in the courts of the Griffin Judicial Circuit. No one ended up testifying about Jessica and Matthews marriage. A fence separates their house from an open field, where nine cows and two donkeys graze. Three days after she left the hospital, a deputy from the Pike County sheriffs office delivered a Family Violence Protective Order. Of course, it was through my efforts that we landed that account, but did I get any credit? Jessica Boynton was found in a closet bleeding out. ! his girlfriend texts him. 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?. The idea that domestic violence is bad for kids still has not sunk init sometimes barely makes a dent in a case, she said. She speaks lovingly of her children and the need to and desire to see them.. Jessica was the kind of intuitive mother who predicts a babys dangera fall, a spilled drink, a choking hazarda few seconds before it happens. She spoke to the GBI, from her hospital bed. Just one minute later, Matthewcalls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. 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. She believes that she and Matthew must have fought in the closet, and she never made it outside. She wasnt sure how to unlock the safety lever on the holster. "That was when approximately 24 minutes into the conversation, his demeanor changed and everything flipped," she recalled. Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he said, My whole upper body went numb. I would have picked something different, Jessica went on. She told me that, for female officers in many parts of the South, theres no in-betweenyou cant just be a human in uniform. They were made to feel that their presence contaminated the ethos of the department. she asked. 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. She wanted to elaborate on what shed witnessed, but the agents left after eight minutes and never came back. And he said, Its a damn shame she didnt do it right the first time. She added, He doesnt refer to her as, like, human. You do whatever you want to do. The lead teacher at the day care where Jessica worked had also found her unnecessarily deferential. In 2012, Piper complained to Beam, and he said hed look into the accusations, if she put them in writing. Although the hospital had placed her under constant observation after she was admitted, the precautions were removed after she regained consciousness. From her porch, Jessicas neighbor Megan Browning saw Jessica and Matthew return home. She finished her high-school coursework online, and almost never saw her friends or family. I know that we got into an argument, but that's about all," she said, not remembering much of what had happened on April 15. The fact that they dont believe that she did this to herselfI think theyre not taking it seriously, Owen said. 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.. GBI/Griffin Police Dept. 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. (Beam refused to talk to me. Amy fell to pieces, Denise said. "Police department!" Is she gonna wear a mask or. Jessica Boynton says she's free as a bird'. 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 . Jessica could see her children for only four hours on Sunday afternoons. Its always different. Police investigate further and find a gun underneath Jessicas limp body. He grabs his police radio, stationed and charging on top of the white microwave in the kitchen, and leaves his phone on the counter. I made sure that I had another party with me, to insure the accusations wouldnt be made, Matthew said later. He had control of Spalding County, she said, referring to Gibson. Underneath her . 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. Dr. Vernon Henderson, chief of Trauma and Critical Care at Atlanta Medical Center was on-call the morning Jessica came in and treated her for the next month while she was in the hospital.
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