If he's willing to cheat on his wife, he's willing to cheat the law., She wanted to file for divorce, says Kshywonis. Shortly afterward, Matthew begins texting Jessica about going to Walmart to pick up baby formula. His flashlights beam reveals a smiling family of four. Are you having trouble breathing?'" He reads another text from mistress, while driving home at nearly 90 mph. They're re slit open while her head flops from side to side on the beige carpet, as one female EMS works on her. She told the agent, they were at home when they argued about his mistress and the photo that Jessica found on his phone that night. It entered at an upward leftward trajectory angle," said Sheila Mathews. The GRIP has reported extensively on seeming inconsistencies and irregularities in that GBI investigation. Still peering down at his phone, Matthew also sends a text to his girlfriend, a Spalding County dispatcher. Cops do find Jessica's DNA on the gun. Nearly four years later, questions persist about what happened to the young. Boynton: Can you please dispatch a unit out to my location, in reference to my wife? Domestic violence has always been a precursor to violence in other areas. John Hayesto turn in many articles of womens clothing and other personal property including an orthodontic retainer. The neighbor says Jessica started documenting all the sordid details of the affair in her secret red "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. That's fine. What are my kids going to do? he pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion. So Crime Watch Daily went out and got one of the best in the business. Chris DeMarco, GBI's assistant special agent in charge, arrives on the scene and meets with Griffin Police Chief Michael Yates for a briefing. She also says she couldn't have written the text because it said "I love you.". 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. Matthew, a police officer in a small town called Griffin, in Georgia, rushed home. ", "There are two theories in this case, the first is that she shot herself and on the way to the ground she accidentally fired the gun a second time. Matthew met Jessica during her sophomore year of high school at open house in 2012. Her body is on the floor, just behind the door. Since his bodycam wasn't charged, it doesn't record this call. I don't see anything that looks like high-velocity blood splatter or mist," said Miley. 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. Cops find 8-month-old Tyler visibly upset but thankfully uninjured. Police investigate further and find a gun underneath Jessicas limp body. Her head shaved. And that's all I needed, so I was on cloud nine.". And, she said, she wouldn't have told him that she loved him. "Matthew. But Jessica's trauma surgeon, a 30-year veteran in the field, had a few thoughts of his own about what could have happened and what likely did not happen that night. He assigns another officer to standby at the door until the rest of the apartment is cleared. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. This is abuse of power. There was a question of what was and was not community marital property, so that took some doing to sort that out, also, Yates said, adding that many of the items reported as stolen including the clothing, computer and household items had been cited as community property during the couples divorce. Man, look, she's still breathing. I believe I just heard a shot fired coming from my residence. No, never. He grabs his police radio from the kitchen counter and runs outside and makes a desperate call. Running across the parking lot and up the stairs, responding officers head toward the apartment. It could have been simply that um, all his, he left his stuff there. Matthew begins calling his brothers in blue, telling them Jessica is physically abusing him -- not a standard way of reporting domestic abuse. "Being in the closet," said Jessica. Her ex-husband and former Griffin police officer Matthew Boynton was investigated in the case, but was only charged with making . Geez, im no cop , no investigator and know absolutely nothing on how investigations are even done but if the doctors say she wasnt shot what more do they need..that little punk got away with it.please tell me im missing a story and he has been arrested for the attempted murder of his wife.please.and please tell me that every stupid ass cop that had any involvement with this case is no longer a cop..oh and his Grandpa, well i think he needs a little jail rehabilitation as well..i could go on and on, but obviously they wouldnt understand anyway..what a disgrace to all REAL POLICE OFFICERS, https://the-grip.net/2016/10/18/gbi-completes-boynton-investigation-requested-by-gpd/ this says she was SHOT!!! Why did no one ask about the comment Matthew made about the kids being in the closet too? I thought he hadnt gone inside the apartment until backup arrived, so how would he know Jessica was in the closet unless he put her there? "I saw a lot of things change after time. And now Jessica is telling a completely different story. Example video title will go here for this video. She's like a sister to me, Browning says, her voice quivering. GSW, possible to the head. No, never. "I didn't know if I was dealing with a possible active scenario where she still had the gun, and she had shot Tyler, and then I could have been the next target," Matthew says in the interview. "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.". Just have a soul here please please please. The GBI is a joke as well The officer says he left it in the kitchen and ran outside. Officer Boynton hung up and did not respond to multiple messages, while the GBI refused to talk about the closed case. Matthew Boynton, 21, had just started work as a Griffin police officer. I never wanted to hurt myself before, she said, going on to say that she's never handled a gun, nor shot one. 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 questions Matthew about once he's out of the apartment. EMTs start carrying Jessica down the stairs on a backboard and click her into a gurney and swing open the ambulance doors. giving him custody, and granting Jessica once-weekly. His flashlight's beam reveals a smiling family of four. 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. "I would say broken, distraught, damaged," the neighbor says. How did Jessica react when she saw those messages? Once the investigation was closed, reporter and publisher, Sheila Mathews, investigated the shooting for her newspaper, The Grip. "It's believed that Jessica entered the closet, closed the door, locked it, turned with her back to the door facing the back wall of the closet, that she held the gun to her head, pulled the trigger," said Sheila. It's possible, but I mean it's very doubtful, because he's never hurt me before. But Yates said the holster is designed to have some retention capability. The chain of custody on that stuff is messed up. 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. According to a press release issued by the Griffin Police Department, Boynton was on Friday arrested without incident and transported to the Spalding County Jail. Jessica's husband and high school sweetheart is Griffin Police Officer Matthew Boynton. She wants to give her new employers the right impression, since tomorrow is her first day at a chiropractor's office. The air is thick with mystery, as the officers approach the locked closet. "It was. I was scared to death, because I couldn't find [Tyler]that she would shoot me, I mean shoot him, shoot me, and then kill herself.. This is not the first time I have had suicide thoughts. In fact she claims Jessica was blissfully stockpiling ammunition to get full custody of their two little boys. Sheila Mathews publishes The Grip, an independent newspaper in Griffin. Id be afraid to luve in that town until that poluce brotherhood is abolished. Stay out, Matt, one the officers advises his fellow officer. That's right. Im not sure if it was slightly before or slightly after. 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. It appears she's been shot in the head. "He tried to kill her.". I can't even get it out of its case, she replied. And it's assigned to Matthew, her husband, the cop. Keyword: Admitted. Based on that acknowledgement, The GRIP asked if it would not alleviate legal concerns pertaining to the chain of custody, and furthermore, why Boynton was not also charged with theft. She thinks he found it before the incident. She grabs his arm with her left hand, while her other arm falls to the ground. It was sitting out in the open, caught on police body-camera when cops kicked in the closet door. "And I talked to the guy and was like, 'Look man, you know, can you just be honest with me? Do you think Matthew did something? he asked her bluntly. I finally had the evidence that I needed that Matthew was cheating on me. By the time Jessica was twenty, she'd had enough of Matthew, and their crumbling marriage had driven her to a dark place. But it was used after Matthew had said he left the apartment in fear of his life, and did not return. Because she owned the retainer prior to her marriage, it would not be considered community property. After studying Jessica Boynton's case, Miley sides with Jessica. After establishing her retainer was not community property, Boynton was arrested on two felonies false statements and writings and violation of his oath of office. Matthew calls another officer and reports Jessica is refusing to leave with him. Or was it? 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. The subsequent investigation was short-lived, with it having been deemed a "civil matter." Making his way outside, he calls for assistance over his radio. Matthew Boynton is clearly hysterical. Get him downstairs. You want to start recording me, and started quoting me, you'd better let me know ahead of time, or we're gonna have a problem. A message to Matthews phone is received and marked as read, from his girlfriend--from inside the evidence bag. OR OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. But asking those questions resulted in a threat. No bullet fragments were recovered from her head. He has been charged with false statements and writings and violating his oath of office. I mean you can't prove that," DeMarco. One of her aunts is all over Facebook., GBI agent said, The bullet didn't even enter the skull. In partnership with "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. 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. We had to establish a timeline for when that property was possessed before the marriage or after it. Dispatch notifies Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, Matthews grandfather,and police notify Jessicas family that she has died. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . Her complaint, which she checked on, was never filed. A key piece of evidence was photographed inside the kitchen after officers arrived on the scene. 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. I don't know, he said. He later tells investigators that he heard Tyler crying, and then, POP-POP!, Jones advises Matthew over the radio, Stay outside. 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. It's like some of my family they hear all these people say, 'Oh I think he did it and it was planned.' Until recently, Matthew's grandfather, Wendell Beam, reigned as Spalding County sheriff. So if there is no gunshot wound, what really happened inside that closet? Everybody clear out, says Jones, who has Keys call for an EMT. Matthew, who's wearing a gray sweatshirt, says he called Lt. Curtis Keys and asked him what he should do. Despite Jessica Boynton's fiery allegations, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation closed her case, clearing Matthew to return to work. GRIFFIN, Georgia, April 15, 2016: Police are breathlessly racing to save a life. 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.. It is unknown what effect his arrest may have on Boyntons criminal cases. He enters, checking the master bedroom. 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. But they have no idea what's waiting for them behind a locked closet door. "She suspected Matthew was cheating on her and so she dug for information, and we found it," the neighbor said. The doctor was not contacted by the GBI until July 20. 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. Especially because of my children. Jessica is also slinging allegations at Matthew's brothers in blue at the Griffin Police Department, and Matthew's grandfather Sheriff Wendell Beam. She rebukes the text message that was sent from her phone to Matthews that night and said she didnt have a lock on her phone, so anyone couldve sent it. The gun then landed underneath," said Tim Miley. Matthew Boynton interrogation video with Griffin Police Department. She's having suicidal thoughts," he calmly says about Jessica to the dispatcher. Matthew says that he told Jessica, I'm not happy anymore and I can't. GBI conducts canvas and begins interviewing neighbors. I didn't wash may hands, nothing like that either, that way for GSR., There's a possibility that we might collect your clothes, OK. That piece of evidence was a photo showing Matthew's cell phone next to the microwave inside the apartment. UPDATE: This story was originally published in November 2016. "I know for a fact that Jessica was not suicidal," said the neighbor. (He resigned) about the time they brought him in. 11Alive reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton, however, phone calls were not returned. "Well, how do you come to that conclusion?" A lot, she said, doesn't add up. Jessica believes her suicide attempt was staged. Did she try to kill herself or shoot herself in the head? I love you and the boys.". The glowing yellow and black, blocked-letter Waffle House sign illuminates his truck as he drives by, turning around to head back home. But another heated argument goes down in the baby food aisle. But here's the thing that has everyone shaking their heads: In the bureau's final report, dated months after Jessica was released from the hospital, they still declare Jessica dead. Aft. I wouldn't trade those two boys for anything," she said, swiping away tears streaming down both cheeks. 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. Because if you go to the photographs that are part of your investigative case file, there's a photograph after the evidence report for his cell phone" she said. He bangs on the locked closet door. I hadn't really put much thought into it, Jessica told him. While Jessica believes someone tried taking her life from her, she refuses to allow anyone to take her kids away from her. Lester recovered from the shooting but doesn't remember any of it. "I can't do this anymore," the message read. "I left the location, I'm back en route, I'm on Carver Road right now. As she continues to tinker with clothes, she notices that her red and black composition notebook, which is usually carefully tucked under a pile of clothes inside her closet, has been left on top of the clothes. I said 'Is she still alive?' "They did not. While sifting through pages and pages of the report, a GBI evidence photo caught her attention.