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. While sifting through pages and pages of the report, a GBI evidence photo caught her attention. When the officers pull Jessica's body out of the closet, they find Matthew's gun right underneath her, a .40-caliber Glock. Matthew, grandson of then-sheriff of Spalding County, texts a fellow Griffin Police officer. Officer Robert Brian Jones is also dispatched to the Ashford Way apartment building. Officer Matthew Boynton has never been charged with anything in connection with this case, but the Georgia Bureau of Investigation did question him. Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton was cleared in his wife's shooting, but his interrogation still cost him his job. Does Jessica know whether the cops ever swabbed her hands? Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service. "Happy," said the neighbor. Jones checks on a locked closet door between the master bedroom and hallway, across from the bathroom. Dispatch notifies Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, Matthews grandfather,and police notify Jessicas family that she has died. Matthew's mistress worked as a dispatch officer, reporting to Sheriff Wendell Beam, who just happens to be Matthew Boynton's grandfather. Her mouth covered with a breathing apparatus and several machines attached to her monitoring her condition. "He tried to kill her.". Those properties obtained during the marriage would be considered community property.. The panicked cop grabs his police radio and runs outside to make the frantic call to dispatch. It was actually from him. Four days later, he appeared in court, wearing his police uniform, and testified that he had been cleared by the GBI in a custody hearing. GRIFFIN, Ga. Who shot the officers wife? Jones approaches Matthew to find out what happened. Griffin, Georgia is the kind of small Southern town where high school sweethearts stay married forever. The dispatch operator notified Matthew on Facebook, Browning says. He said the description of a self-inflicted gunshot wound didn't fit, noting her pristine and unmarked hands and calling it a very unusual direction in which to point the gun at one's self with the intention of committing suicide., First of all, the wound that she suffered was toward the vertex of her skull on the right side of her head; this would imply that she shot herself with a gun pointed downward near the top of her skull., The second most striking observation he said he made while assessing Jessica was neither of her hands had any evidence of any gunpowder stippling from gunpowder blowback.. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. "He said 'What's wrong? Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he says, My whole upper body went numb. He reads another text from his girlfriend, while driving 90 mph. Aft. I can't keep doing this.. After just six months of marriage, the Boyntons' one-time neighbor says she saw their young love grow toxic. She also thinks Matthew read her diary and realized she was documenting his extramarital affair and secretly plotting to get full custody of their little boys. Since both sides have their theories of what happened that night, Crime Watch Daily brought in an independent investigator to give us his unbiased opinion. Jessica Boynton, 19, was found lying in a pool of her own . 2023 Telepictures Productions Inc. They did not swab me or Matthew, nor did they take his clothes," said Jessica. It's the second infidelity in their relationshipJessica admitted to cheating on him before they were married. 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? Matthew makes it home and races to the breezeway of his apartment and enters, checks the master bedroom and bangs on the locked closet door. Barely clinging to life, Jessica spent three weeks in a coma before waking up, according to 11alive. That's not what the surveillance tape shows. "According to my interview with Griffin police chief, that second shot had to have been fired while the gun was either on the floor or almost on the floor very close to that wall.". Griffin Police Department Officer Matthew Boynton has been arrested and charged with two felonies. Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he said, My whole upper body went numb. 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. provided images. This x cop needs to be tried for attempted murder. Once he arrives on the scene, Trammel makes contact with Matthew, who tells him that he and his wife got into an argument. No bullet fragments were recovered from her head. He later tells investigators that he heard Tyler crying, and then, POP-POP!. "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. She was leaving her husband of just six months. When asked to confirm that a July 26 appointment with Lesters orthodontist was pivotal in the Internal Affairs case, Yates said it was. "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. I love you and the boys.". No, never. Listen. The glowing yellow and black, blocked-letter Waffle House sign illuminates his truck as he drives by, turning around to head back home. "How did his phone get in there? They had Tollin soon after, and were married on Oct. 24, 2015. Yeah, if we've got to get the clothes, obviously we'll bring you back up to the apartment for you to get some clothes obviously, says the agent. I never wanted to hurt myself before, she said, going on to say that shes never handled a gun, nor shot one. What did Matthew do that he needed covering up? 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.. GBI begins interviewing neighbors and Matthew interviews with the GBI later that morning. I don't think he meant to do it, or at least that's what I like to think.". 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. "Another reasonable explanation is that there was a fight over the gun and during the course of that she was injured, Matthew thought she was dead and put the gun underneath.". Matthew claims they returned home just after 11 p.m. His proof? 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. But DeMarco insisted to Mathews during their phone conversation, that the timeline was not relevant. Then he hits investigators with a jaw-dropper. UPDATE: This story was originally published in November 2016. 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. She found a photo on Snapchat of another woman wearing nothing but a towel, with the caption: Shower time.. "And I talked to the guy and was like, 'Look man, you know, can you just be honest with me? Two-year-old Tollin is sleeping soundly in his bed as cops try not to wake him in the chaos. The purpose of it, is when you're fighting with somebody to keep the weapon from coming out of your holster, but it's certainly easy to take it out under most cases. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . After getting Matthew's phone records, Sanders discovers during that same time Matthew was making calls to 911, he was texting his mistress. And her lawyer was useless I wrote to her years ago. Nearly four years later, questions persist about what happened to the young. One of those bullets went through the roof, the other lodged into the baby's bedroom wall. The agent asked her if she had ever held her husband's service weapon. Matthew begins calling his brothers in blue, telling them Jessica is physically abusing him -- not a standard way of reporting domestic abuse. However, he did not confirm that sequence. Join our naturalist on a short walk and learn about the history of the once-prosperous town of High Falls. What Sanders found most alarming was the time frame Matthew Boynton says he heard those two gunshots. There are a lot of questions that I would love to have answered. GBI conducts canvas and begins interviewing neighbors. She remembered an instance when Matthew asked her grab his gun. Thank God she fought and he was in there with her. Credit: GBI/Griffin Police Dept. He's not a cop or even a private investigator. Are you having trouble breathing?'" "If he would have just been a regular person he would have been taken to jail," said Jessica. The 20-year-old says he's heading to Waffle House for a late night food run with on-duty cop and best. But he's also texting her before he called 911," said Sanders. Yates said, Yes, but that doesnt overcome the civil side of it whether it was or was not marital property, and even if it was, it would have been a misdemeanor as opposed to the two felonies.. Matthew Boynton allegedly deprived ex-wife Jessica Lester of her belongings and lied to the authorities about doing so, Griffin police Lt. Michael Natale said in a statement. Shortly afterward, Matthew begins texting Jessica about going to Walmart to pick up baby formula. 11Alive reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton, however, phone calls were not returned. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | 11alive.com Her husband, Matthew Boynton, was at a nearby restaurant when he got a text from Jessica that read like a suicide note. Their neighbor says Jessica wasn't suicidal at all. She was hit over the head. "It was determined that he knowingly provided a false statement relating to the property in question and his possession of (it)," Natale said in a release .l Center. But she doesn't buy it, especially since her head was perfectly laid on a pillow, she said after watching the bodycam footage. "Be advised I smell gunsmoke, and I can't get an answer to the door," Boynton says on the call. But asking those questions resulted in a threat. Matthew Boynton, 21, had just started work as a Griffin police officer. And, she said, she wouldn't have told him that she loved him. 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. Behind the closet door: Crime Watch Daily investigates the Jessica I didnt know if I was dealing with a possible active active scenario where she still had the gun and she had shot Tyler, he replied. Privacy Policy | If I just would have left my f**king duty belt in the car.. Both Jessica and Matthew reportedly want a divorce. she asked. Example video title will go here for this video. I'll be back there in about two minutes. Boynton was placed on administrative leave Thursday, July 28, and the Chief said his intent was to terminate the officer, but Boynton resigned before that process could be completed. His flashlight's beam reveals a smiling family of four. Cops do find Jessica's DNA on the gun. "No they did not because they assumed I was shot, because that's what Matthew said," Jessica said. She also stated that she just wanted her things back, so I informed her that I would do a report on the incident.. Matthew says that he told Jessica, I'm not happy anymore and I can't. 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. "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. Griffin Police Capt. She made a full recovery, but doesnt remember a thing. 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.. He grabs his police radio from the kitchen counter and runs outside and makes a desperate call. The only person who truly knows what happened behind that closet door was jessica -- and she's now out of her coma. Despite what many think is a smoking gun, the GBI agent asking questions proceeds as if Jessica shot herself. But did something else happen that spring night in 2016? His phone was left inside their apt, yet he says he never entered it.. so many lies the grandfather called Jessicas family and informed them she was DEAD! Sanders says there are a few things that really stand out: The red sweatshirt Matthew offered police to test for gunshot residue. That's the last thing the 19-year-old remembers. Fast forward to May 11, the day numerous items that reportedly belonged to Lester were turned in to the Griffin Police Department. So just one?" I'll be there in about two. Click here for "Trigger: The Last Word" | And we talk to Jessica Boynton again here: "Trigger: Free as a Bird" | Anda story when the officer was arrested and kicked offthe force (but not for shooting his wife ). He has been charged with false statements and writings and violating his oath of office. "I think it was in the heat of the moment, he was angry with me. She made a full recovery, but doesn't remember a thing. 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. He bangs on the locked closet door. Did he cause his estranged spouses injury? "Well I don't know. It could, but it wont necessarily do it, Yates said. I can't even get it out of its case, she replied.