I was, he says to the GBI agent. Did investigators look for a blunt object? Barely clinging to life, Jessica spent three weeks in a coma before waking up, according to 11alive. It entered at an upward leftward trajectory angle," said Sheila Mathews. He later tells investigators that he heard Tyler crying, and then, POP-POP!, Jones advises Matthew over the radio, Stay outside. Eventually, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded what they believe happened inside that closet; Matthew Boynton was never charged with any connection in harming his wife. In 2016, something terrible happened to Jessica Boynton, a 19-year-old mother of two. The 20-year-old says he's heading to Waffle House for a late night food run with on-duty cop and best friend, Officer Joshua Guthrie--leaving his service weapon at home, in its holster and in the closet. Jessica Lester-Boyntons property has already previously been returned to her by my step dad (Charles McDaniel Jr.) shortly after Jessica got out of the hospital. No, never. "I know for a fact that Jessica was not suicidal," said the neighbor. Nearly four years later, questions persist about what happened to the young. The doctor said the second most striking observation while assessing Jessica was that neither of her hands had any evidence of gunpowder. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. While GPD Chief Mike Yates said he is unable to release specific information due to the criminal nature of the case, he did confirm information The GRIP provided during a July 31 interview. But it was used after Matthew had said he left the apartment in fear of his life, and did not return. Of course the Grandfather could not be reached for a comment, he had it covered up. My kids are at home with her, so I'm trying to hurry up and get back there., I'm driving. Dispatch notifies Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, who is also Matthew's grandfather and police notify Jessica's family that she has died. There were two bullets, on different walls inside the closet. Keyword: Admitted. Jessica Boynton was initially . While Jessica believes someone tried taking her life from her, she refuses to allow anyone to take her kids away from her. It appears it was self-inflicted. Immediately following that flip, Mathews said, DeMarco asked if she was recording their conversation. I was looking for a job and I finally found one. That's what they're all assuming, Matthew said. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service. A message to Matthews phone is received and marked as read, from his girlfriend--from inside the evidence bag. It's one of their owna police-issued .40-caliber Glock. She told me she loved me right before she did it," Matthew says, sobbing, as the paramedics roll her gurney into the ambulance and slam the doors shut. The shocking discovery comes when he shaves her head looking for bullet holes. A text messages is sent to his phone from Jessica's phone. It sounded like a gunshot. I left a message with the lady that answered for her to call me. He's hoping if the case gets reopened, any possible clues will be preserved. UPDATE: This story was originally published in November 2016. He checks the closet where he keeps his police-issued firearm, but the door is locked. Chris DeMarco, GBI's assistant special agent in charge, arrives on the scene and meets with Griffin Police Chief Michael Yates for a briefing. Investigators confirmed at least some of this evidence did belong to Lester, but along with questions regarding the chain of custody was the issue of whether the belongings were personal or community property. But, Jessica said regardless of her knowledge of guns, she had every reason to live. And that's all I needed, so I was on cloud nine.". GRIFFIN, Ga. - Matthew Boynton was arrested by his fellow Griffin Police officers and taken to the Spalding County Jail on . It could have a negative effect on them, but those things have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. Law enforcement was in his genes. ', Do you know how it was that you got shot?, Have you ever had any type of thoughts about hurting yourself?. The glowing yellow and black, blocked letter sign illuminates his truck driving past. A phone that text messages were sent and received to/from following his recollection of hearing,POP-POP! and running out of the apartment. And he called the girlfriend, so Mays said to Mathews. He tells Trammel he left Walmart without Jessica. The neighbor says Jessica came over to her apartment with the kids, clearly upset about the fight. "I said 'It's Jessica isn't it?' He's meeting his buddy at the local Waffle House. 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. The doctor believes Jessica's injuries may have been caused by blunt-force trauma. A lot of times, what happens, especially if theyre involved in something very serious, they throw in the towel before it can go through the citys process of termination.. "Matthew," said Jessica. He's asked me to go get it out before. She grabs his arm with her left hand, while her other arm falls to the ground. Matthew's attorney, however, told the court that Jessica was the one who shot the gun and that initially, Matthew believed that she was shooting at him. And I could have been the next target.. "He stated that he was too frightened. He assigns another officer to standby at the door until the rest of the apartment is cleared. A grandson of the county sheriff, a career in law enforcement was in his genes. Blood pressure.. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. One of about 70 messages they exchange throughout the night. Yates also said Boynton had provided a statement during the subsequent Internal Affairs investigation, acknowledging the items Sanders turned in were Lesters belongings. nd police notify Jessicas family that she has died. in the head..in hospital for a month..just an FYI. He was going to clean his gun and he asked me to go get it for him. "Really somebody just needs to look at it, somebody of great knowledge of things like this, and then let them tell me what they think," said Jessica Boynton. No one may have ever done anything to question this case again if not for Will Sanders. He grabs his police radio from the kitchen counter and runs outside and makes a desperate call. But Griffin Police are treating this as a suicide attempt. I finally had the evidence that I needed that Matthew was cheating on me. Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he says, My whole upper body went numb. Example video title will go here for this video. Jessica Boynton's husband says he gets a suicidal text from his estranged wife, so he rushes home, only to hear two gunshots. No bullet fragments were recovered from her head. However, she was NOT shot. "She's like, 'This is exactly what I need to get my divorce from him.'". Warner Bros. Entertainment | After just six months of marriage, the Boyntons' one-time neighbor says she saw their young love grow toxic. Jones passes by a framed portrait hung on the wall. "He stated that he heard two shots fired, 'pop pop,' rapid succession," said Sheila Mathews. Her blond hair is now red from what cops assume is a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He says she started poking him in the chest with her finger, telling him that he had to admit there was another woman. A Griffin police officer who was investigated in his ex-wife's shooting was charged Friday, July 28, 2017, with making false statements and violating oath after officials say he took her belongings, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. One of her aunts is all over Facebook., GBI agent said, The bullet didn't even enter the skull. "Most people would not view it as such, I don't believe," said Sheila Mathews. We're going to be doing that to do touch DNA on the gun, and um, and why we're doing that is obviously one to corroborate everything that's what believed happened, and that way it also, it also eliminates the possibility of her family saying, you had something involved in this, or whatever, the GBI agent said to him. This screams cover up. 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. It appears to be either an assault or maybe something accidental," said Miley. There's no way I could have shot myself in the top of the head and not kill myself. Matthew interviews with the GBI early that morning. Both Jessica and Matthew reportedly want a divorce. The babys muffled cry echoes, getting louder as the officers sweep their guns back and forth, searching for the shooter. Here recently she did confirm that the second baby's not mine. OR OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. Jessica Boynton is found unconscious, her body on top of her husband's service revolver. Five days after his wife was shot, Matthew talked with the GBI again. 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?. "There was no testing done on his clothing," said Sheila Mathews. provided images. By June 6, Matthew returned to full duty with a new service weapon in his holster. "What you're saying to me, that's not, you know, I don't see anything he did wrong by saying that," Fred Mays told Mathews. If you play with it a little bit, it's not hard.. EMTs start carrying Jessica down the stairs on a backboard and click her into a gurney and swing open the ambulance doors. No it wasn't. I f***ing love her. A key piece of evidence was photographed inside the kitchen after officers arrived on the scene. In it, she logs Matthew Boynton's every move, including his unexplained disappearances with their two boys. But what about that 911 call Matthew made just minutes before the shooting, claiming he got a text from Jessica saying she was going to kill herself? ", Following that phone call, Mathews, perceiving that she was threatened, called the GBIs director of professional standards to file a formal complaint and to gain clarity about what he meant by, Were gonna have a problem.. Matthew's fellow officers try to shield him from the sight of his gravely injured wife. "She was actually happy, she was thrilled because she finally got that closure that she needed," says the neighbor. Thats what took so long to get it sorted out.. 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. She says under the helm of Wendell Beam, the sheriff's department had a reputation for protecting its own. 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. They're re slit open while her head flops from side to side on the beige carpet, as one female EMS works on her. The dispatch operator notified Matthew on Facebook, Browning says. The glowing yellow and black, blocked-letter Waffle House sign illuminates his truck as he drives by, turning around to head back home. He cautiously went into the residence to try to make sure that the children were OK. Domestic violence has always been a precursor to violence in other areas. She's having suicidal thoughts. "He didn't know if her intent was to kill their child, kill him and then commit suicide," said Sheila. If I could have been there 10 minutes earlier I could have jumped in front of the gun and try to get it from her man., Where did she shoot herself at? "The second shot that was fired, it entered the back wall of the closet approximately a foot, no more than a foot off the ground. 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. GBI agents, however, have closed her case. I'm sure as you've heard, I'm getting a divorce. "She suspected Matthew was cheating on her and so she dug for information, and we found it," the neighbor said. 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. She says there were pages missing. She's even fighting with EMS, dude, the fellow officer tells Matthew. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service. "That was when approximately 24 minutes into the conversation, his demeanor changed and everything flipped," she recalled. I'll be there in about two. He has been charged with false statements and writings and violating his oath of office. It's like I tell them, they make it twice as bad because I'm a cop, Matthew said. GBI/Griffin Police Dept. I was scared to death, because I couldnt find [Tyler]that she would shoot me, I mean shoot him, shoot me, and then kill herself.. Just have a soul here please please please. That's fine. Womens clothing items and an orthodontic retainer turned in to the Griffin Police Department by Will Sanders has been established to have belonged to Jessica Lester, the former wife of Matthew Boynton. She's breathing, but unresponsive. Griffin Police Capt. There's so many useless words thrown in there, then there's so many words left out, she said. Even though doctors were able to save her life, they couldn't save her from what was about to happen to her familylosing custody of her children. I'm prior military so to me it sounded like a gunshot, he tells DeMarco. And its inside that closet, where police found her seemingly shot in the head, laying on top of her husbands service weapon. I would have said, 'I can't do this anymore, comma, take care of Tolin and Tyler, period.' During my stay is when my personal belongings were taken and Matthew Boynton (3842) refuses to give them back, Lester stated. No. Hahaha you about have me a heart attack freak!! Cops finally reach that locked closet door. Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he said, My whole upper body went numb. Chris DeMarco, GBIs assistant special agent in charge, arrives on the scene and meets with Griffin Police Chief Michael Yates for a briefing. Matthew claims they returned home just after 11 p.m. His proof? "They did not. corrupted cops, he and his grandfather! Her head shaved. Then he drops a shocker, claiming he wasn't the only one cheating, "She finally told me, she said 'Yeah, I had an affair,'" Matthew Boynton says in the GBI interview. "I would not have said that to him," said Jessica. She agreed to provide those items to Sanders, who then turned them in to the Griffin Police Department. They were calling me the miracle child Because what I went through, not a lot of people survive through it, she told 11Alive's Brendan Keefe, nearly six months after the incidenther golden blonde hair now growing back. God damn it, man! The neighbor says Jessica started documenting all the sordid details of the affair in her secret red "divorce diary." Jessica's hair is so matted with blood no one can find the actual gunshot wound to stop the bleeding. Matthew Boynton, 20, discovered his wife Jessica, 19, lying in a pool of blood in a closet. "He told 911 that he was so worried and he was trying to get back to the house as fast as possible. Somewhere in proximity to his arrest. But Yates said the holster is designed to have some retention capability. This couldn't happen man. Listen. "It was. That is not a reaction that I can relate to.". Mass shooters. I havent listened to the actual investigation, but I dont believe so, that he gave any explanation that made any sense.. He advised that he does not have any of the items listed in this report.. $5 plus $5 parking. Courthouse Annex, Solomon Street, Griffin, Six-year-old fire victim will give life to others through organ donation, Cause of fatal Saturday morning fire determined, https://the-grip.net/2016/10/18/gbi-completes-boynton-investigation-requested-by-gpd/, https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/trigger-over-and-out/85-8ab82530-da07-492b-9a3c-c20d5e7f50b3, GPD Chief fabricated, released record identifying Will Sanders as Matthew Boyntons father The Grip. Ultimately, it came down to orthodontia Lesters retainer. It doesn't sound like anything I would say. Her head shaved. But according to Mathews, that was not the last number dialed, so it could not have just been a redial accidently called through the evidence bag. What are my kids going to do? he pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion. He bangs on the locked closet door. Jessica has given Will every piece of evidence in her case, including that divorce diary. I didn't know if I was dealing with a possible active active scenario where she still had the gun and she had shot Tyler, he replies. This time for a DNA consent. He asked her what she thought could've happened. Jessica Boynton, 19, was found lying in a pool of her own . Matthew admits to having an affair. Please wear sturdy shoes. Matthew makes it back to the apartment before help arrives and hears baby Tyler crying -- and then heartbreak. Matthew, who's wearing a gray sweatshirt, says he called Lt. Curtis Keys and asked him what he should do. And I could have been the next target.. Police investigate further and find a gun underneath Jessicas limp body. Once established as her personal belonging, this one piece of physical evidence contradicted Boyntons January written civil statement in which he denied possessing any of Lesters property. The paramedic begins accessing her head wound, but they're having a hard time finding it through her hair and thick blood. Sanders says there are a few things that really stand out: The red sweatshirt Matthew offered police to test for gunshot residue. Jessica's theory of what happened centers around her "dirty divorce diary." She's like 'I got you where I want you and you're gonna go down for this,' and he pulls his gun out and she runs into the closet to hide, and instead of shooting her, he hits her on the head with a baton," said the neighbor. Which I knew that.. The ambulance pulls away with Jessica in critical condition, to the fire station located on Carver Road, where the medical helicopter picks her up and takes her to an Atlanta hospital. Then-Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton was arrested on July 28, 2017 for giving a false statement to his own department about having possession of a gym bag full of clothes, underwear. They're saying it was self-inflicted, she said. They're forced to kick it in. It can be inferred that approximately half or more cops are abusive husbands/wifebeaters. She also says she couldn't have written the text because it said "I love you.". 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. The air is thick with the trepidation, as officers approach the locked closet. And their "War of the Roses" was about to explode. But he's also texting her before he called 911," said Sanders. No bullet entered her body anywhere. SHE WAS NOT SHOT.and do they really think that she would have hit herself hard enough with any object to cause the damage that was done? "The neighbors [said] somewhere around 11 p.m., and he is the only one who hears the gunshots at 1 a.m., and he calls it in," said Sanders. The agent then probes Matthew, asking if he has a girlfriend. Officer Boynton was responding to an accident, and when he returned to his cruiser, we were waiting, armed with questions. At the time of the shooting Jessica was looking to make a new start for herself and two young sons. They'd met in high school when Jessica was 15 and Matthew was 16. This activity on his cell phone had to have taken place inside the kitchen inside his apartment," Mathews said to DeMarco in a recorded phone conversation.