By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

When local law enforcement is dispatched to the scene of a possible crime in progress, or perhaps to a scene where a crime may have been committed, but the scene has not been assessed nor secured, law enforcement walks in to a lot of unknowns.

They go in expecting and being prepared for anything – active shooter, hostages, and casualties -- until first assessments are made and documented.

Such was the case on Dec. 24, 2022, at 600 Poplar St. in Guyton.

According to police reports, 9-1-1 received a call at 11:39 p.m. of a “possible home invasion and burglary” at that location.

Guyton Police were familiar with the location and its resident – 89-year-old Betty “Miss Betty” Badgett.

“They told me it was a reference to call at the address to a possible burglary or home invasion. So (while en route) I asked to speak to the supervisor on scene to see if there was anything actually stolen,” said Lt. Joseph Coppola of Guyton Police.

Effingham County Sheriff deputies are dispatched to every 9-1-1 call within the county. If the incident is within the city limits of any of the three municipalities, that city’s police department is also called. An Effingham County Sheriff deputy arrived first to secure the scene, while Coppola was en route.

Coppola recalled that while he was on his way to the scene, he called fellow Guyton Police Officer Don Williams at 11:51, who lived closer, and who was on scene nine minutes later, at midnight – 21 minutes after the initial 9-1-1 call. Williams was scheduled to have Christmas Day off, but he arrived and took over the scene, and relieved the ECSO deputy.

Coppola arrived at the scene at 12:20 a.m.

“There’s a certain criteria whether basically, are you going to write a report for something we handle tomorrow, or do we need to come out right away?” Coppola explained. “I didn’t get a call back until a couple of minutes later from the corporal on scene, and I was told that she believed that it was a home invasion. The door appeared to be kicked in and Miss Betty was unresponsive on the floor. Then Central Dispatch called me at 11:46 and they told me that she was actually deceased.”

Because the scene was in Guyton, Guyton PD has to take over – everything from securing the scene to deciding next steps according to protocol.

Guyton Police officers, even when they’re “off duty” are on call via cell phone, according to Chief James Breletic.

The four law enforcement agencies in Effingham County all work together. All the time.

“If we don’t have an officer on duty in Guyton and a call comes in, the sheriff’s office will respond,” Breletic said. “They’ll assess the situation and they either call myself or the lieutenant and we leave from wherever we’re at. We come out, it’s turned over to us and we handle the case.”

Breletic added that if the sheriff deputy writes a report, the report is forwarded to the Detective Division, then on to Guyton PD and they do the follow-up investigation.

“So whether we’re out driving around or not. We’re still involved in everything that happens in Guyton,” Breletic said.

Breletic added that was one reason Officer Williams left his family on Christmas Eve – “They’ll come in at the drop of a hat because everybody knows everybody in our neighborhood,” Breletic said. “We’re a family.”

Officer Williams responded to the call because, “He had talked to Miss Betty (Badgett). He’s been over to her house. He’s brought her food; so that’s why he ran right over to her, because she’s family,” Breletic added.

“Once I knew she was deceased, I wanted my one of my guys on scene to secure the scene. They know how we operate. They know what we want done. I wanted to make sure things were being done properly,” Coppola continued. “The house was in disarray, but the house was always in disarray. It was always in very bad shape.”

From past visits with Badgett, Coppola knew Miss Betty always left the front door slightly ajar but tied closed with a shoestring.

“I think the deputy seeing the shoestring and the open door thinking it was kicked in.

I didn’t believe it had been kicked in,” Lt. Coppola recalled. “The coroner did his observations, and we take a lot of what he says into account on where we should move forward; if we should handle it ourselves; or if we need GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation).”

Coppola added the coroner’s report stated there were no obvious bruises or marks – no signs of a struggle. “EMS had said there were no vital signs. The body was not in rigor (mortis). We wanted to look further. It was very cold in the house. It was 25 degrees,” Coppola added. “She had space heaters, but they were knocked over and turned off (due to the failsafe).”

From Dec. 23-28, 2022, the average nighttime temperature in Coastal Georgia was 26 degrees, according to www.accuweather.com.

At that point, Lt. Coppola made the decision to call GBI. And because only the police chief can make that call, Breletic called GBI to back up Coppola’s request.

Still securing the scene, Lt. Coppola was very limited on what he could do. He wanted to maintain the scene until GBI arrived.

According to Breletic, GBI was working another homicide in another jurisdiction that night, so several hours passed until a GBI unit arrived.

“The coroner has the legal right to move the body, check the body, but he chose -- my understanding -- to leave well enough alone right here,” Breletic recalled. “We’re going to wait for GBI to come and do it together.”

Breletic added the GBI unit arrived around 5 a.m., Dec. 25, 2022.

Cause of death was not a homicide

“GBI’s crime scene investigators arrived on scene -- people who specialize in investigations with dead bodies,” Coppola continued. “It was the crime scene investigator and tech’s opinion that he believed, in theory, Miss Betty may have had some sort of medical issue while lying in the bed.”

Coppola added he believes that Miss Betty may have stood up and began walking around knocking things over accidentally and eventually collapsing on the floor. He wrote in his report there were no major trend transfer patterns found except for some small radius transfer pattern behind her shoulders indicating she may have been moving on the ground trying to get up, which would explain why her feet were a little bit halfway under the bed.

“That was one of the observations I had made earlier,” Lt. Coppola continued. “And then of course, it says on (the police report) these statements just opinions of the crime scene tech and examiner, and further investigation would be done when an official autopsy is completed.”

Autopsies take time, so the results of Badgett’s autopsy were not released until June 23, 2023.

“And they don’t tell you when it’s available,” Coppola said. “You have to go look for it.”

According to the final autopsy report from the GBI, Badgett’s cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or natural causes.

“We acted in good faith and everything. They may not agree with the findings. But that’s what they are,” Breletic said. “They lost their loved one -- their mother -- and they’re hurting. We understand that, but the facts are the facts.
”We did everything by the book. Everything. And the GBI made the determination that it was a natural death. We have no say and now that’s their medical examiner. 100%,” Coppola added.

‘We treat every incident to this highest level,’ – Guyton Police Chief Breletic

“All parties involved in law enforcement on this incident – (it was) an unfortunate natural cause of death – Guyton Police Department along with Georgia Bureau of Investigation and anybody involved treat every incident to this highest level,” Breletic said.

“Since information came to us as a possible home invasion, that's why we went the route that we did, and the way we're going to continue. This could be home invasion, could be homicide. We treat it all the same way. It turns out to be a natural death. I'm sorry for the loss your loved one, but we treat it professionally, like we do every case.”

Setting the record straight

But when it comes to people saying negative statements about law enforcement, that’s when Chief Breletic reaches out to local media to set the record straight.

He knows the media has to do its job to report when a police officer does something illegal or unethical; but when allegations are made against his police officers that turn out to be unfounded, Breletic goes through proper channels to clear his officers’ names.

Breletic says local media and law enforcement work together. Many times he can’t comment on active investigations, but still others, there are times when the media is asked to print appeals for the public's help.

“Because,” Chief Breletic explained, “The news media and law enforcement work together to come up with positive results.”

In January, Breletic conducted an internal investigation to clear the name of Officer Don Williams who was accused of “being on TikTok and not responding to the scene for more than 37 minutes.”

“He was off duty,” Breletic said. “(A) 1,051-page Internal Affairs investigation -- two binders by this man was checked by the Georgia Municipal Association attorney, our city attorney, and two experts who teach for internal affairs, (including) one from Los Angeles, plus myself, plus him (Williams).

“There was no connection to Don Williams on TikTok,” Breletic added pointedly. “He did not do TikTok that night. He was off duty that night. That's throwing stuff and see if it hits the wall.”

Even though Officer Williams’ name was cleared, the Guyton PD subsequently instituted a department-wide social media policy in April.