In the quiet suburbs of Stone Mountain, Georgia, the life of Gwendolyn Ann Gwen Turnbough, a 40-year-old Black woman, came to a tragic and violent end on June 5, 1985. She was a career woman, a mother, and a person who, in the face of escalating terror, had sought to protect herself and her children. Her death was not a random act of violence but the final, brutal chapter in a long history of domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband, Joel Grimmette.
Gwendolyn had taken courageous steps to escape the torment of her marriage to Grimmette. She had divorced him and was attempting to build a new life for herself and her children. However, Grimmette's menacing presence lingered. He relentlessly harassed and threatened her, making it clear he would not let her go. In the days leading up to her murder, the threats intensified. Recognizing the grave danger she was in, Gwendolyn began to document his every word, recording their telephone conversations at the suggestion of the district attorney's office in the hope of building a case against him. In these recordings, her voice was a testament to her resolve, calm and unwavering as she tried to reason with a man consumed by rage.
Despite her efforts to use the legal system for protection, the very system designed to help failed her at the most critical moment. A warrant for Grimmette's arrest had been issued the night before her death, and police had been stationed outside her apartment. For reasons that remain unclear, the officer on duty left his post in the early hours of the morning. It was in this window of vulnerability that Grimmette found his opportunity. He confronted Gwendolyn in the parking lot of her apartment complex on Memorial Drive and shot her twice at close range.
The aftermath of Gwendolyn's murder left a permanent scar on her family, most notably on her daughter, the future U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, who was a 19-year-old college freshman at the time. The harrowing details of her mother's final days and the systemic failures that led to her death would become a central theme in Trethewey's work, particularly in her memoir, 'Memorial Drive.' Joel Grimmette was subsequently arrested, convicted of Gwendolyn's murder, and sentenced to life in prison. After serving 20 years of his sentence, he was released.
