A married Georgia police officer appeared in court with black eyes last week for his first court appearance in the homicide of his girlfriend, a paramedic who was found shot to death May 11 in her home.
William Leonard Talley, 51, is charged with murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and a violation of his oath as a public officer, according to Muscogee County Jail records. A judge on Saturday ordered Talley, a sergeant with the Columbus Police Department, be held without bond on the murder charge.
Talley, a married father of two teenage daughters, is accused of shooting Kelly Susanne Levinsohn, 44, inside her home. He was arrested in neighboring Harris County after crashing Levinsohn's truck on Interstate 185, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.
The longtime police officer, who was left in critical condition in the crash, was hospitalized at Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital for five days before being released Thursday and booked into the jail.
His attorney, Jennifer Curry, told the Ledger-Enquirer that Talley is being housed away from the general population while he continues to recover from his injuries. Curry said Talley, a police officer since 2002, would be at risk among fellow inmates he helped put behind bars.
Curry on Saturday waived her client’s preliminary hearing and entered a not guilty verdict on his behalf.
"Our goal today really was to protect families on both sides, especially Mr. Talley's children," Curry told the newspaper. "They didn't ask for this, so I'm trying to respect their privacy."
Talley’s wife was among the scant number of people in the courtroom Saturday.
Despite his marital status, Columbus police officials have characterized Levinsohn's death as the result of a domestic situation. They have not confirmed a romantic relationship between her and her alleged killer, though some of Levinsohn's neighbors told WTVM in Columbus that the pair had been dating for more than a year.
Curry declined to comment Saturday on the nature of her client's relationship with Levinsohn, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
"Again, my goal today was to protect his two daughters," Curry said. "I'm hoping that both families have time to understand what happened and come to terms with where we're at now."
Columbus police officials said officers were called to Levinsohn’s home around 8 p.m. Saturday by an unidentified caller who told 911 dispatchers someone had been injured or killed in the home. The caller identified the suspect in the slaying as an officer with the department.
The caller met officers at Levinsohn's home and told them the suspect had been in a car crash in Harris County, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. Officers went inside the home, where they found Levinsohn dead of a single gunshot wound.
They also found the paramedic’s vehicle to be missing, the newspaper said.
Columbus police Chief Ricky Boren told the Ledger-Enquirer that investigators recovered a gun believed to be the murder weapon. It was not a department-issued weapon, Boren said.
Talley, a patrol sergeant and SWAT team member, is on leave without pay pending a resolution of the case, the newspaper said.
Clark Rowell, who lives across the street from the crime scene, told WTVM his neighbor's relationship with Talley was not always a peaceful one.
"One time, they had a bad argument out there on the front porch," Rowell told the news station. "He went to the door, she opened it up and she wouldn't let him in."
Rowell said after Levinsohn slammed the door on him, Talley “stomped” to his patrol car and left.
Talley's own personnel record shows that he was also handcuffed by colleagues called to Levinsohn's home more than a year before her slaying. Records obtained by the Ledger-Enquirer show officers were called to the scene around 7:41 p.m. March 11, 2018.
Talley had been drinking, according to the report obtained by the newspaper.
"Talley had to be placed in handcuffs due to a brief struggle while officers attempted to calm him down and speak with him about his personal issues," the report stated.
Two on-duty supervisors had to be called to Levinsohn's home to deal with the situation. According to the Ledger-Enquirer, Talley served a single day's suspension in September related to the incident.
He was not arrested, the newspaper said. It was his first disciplinary action in nearly a decade and his previous disciplinary issues were minor ones.
A sergeant since November 2009, Talley briefly became a detective in 2015, but transferred back to the patrol division less than a year later. Aside from the handful of disciplinary actions against him, he was given "glowing" performance evaluations, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
Supervisors in 2017 complimented his “initiative” and recommended he try for a promotion to lieutenant.
From all accounts, Levinsohn also excelled at her job as an advanced emergency medical technician with Care Ambulance, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan told the newspaper Levinsohn had been with the service for 12 years.
Bryan said her slaying came as a shock to those she worked with.
"She was very dedicated to her job. It's a hard job, both physically and mentally hard. She took it in stride, never showed any kind of negative mood towards one of the patients that she was transporting," Bryan said. "She was always there to ease the patient's pain and suffering, and she was just the kind of person you would want to see come to the scene to be with you."
He said Levinsohn was also a friendly face for first responders, who were often exposed to horrific situations.
"In our line of business, me as a coroner and her as an EMT, we see a lot, car accident victims, gunshot victims, stabbing victims, sick people," Bryan said. "(Levinsohn) was a very emotionally stable person. She kept a level head the whole time, and I praised her for that quite often."
The coroner said he was taking extra care that Levinsohn’s body was treated with respect as her mother, Wylma Levinsohn, traveled home from Israel to see about burying her daughter, who friends described as her best friend.
According to Kelly Levinsohn's obituary, her funeral was Sunday in Columbus.
Longtime friend Staci Warman described Kelly Levinsohn as a loyal friend with a smile that was “the most contagious part about her.”
“She was the best friend anybody really could ever have,” said Warman, who last spoke to Levinsohn in April, the day after Levinsohn’s birthday.
At the time, Levinsohn was on a trip to Aruba with her mother, Warman said.
Kay Witt, who had known Levinsohn since her childhood, also spoke about the tropical vacation, saying that Wylma Levinsohn will be left with a treasured memory.
"They spent a week in Aruba and had an absolute ball, snorkeling, driving around, laying on the beach, eating," Witt told the Ledger-Enquirer. "All the things that you would do on your fantasy vacation, they did."
Witt said Kelly Levinsohn was also her mother’s “rock” as her father, Bill Levinsohn, battled cancer before his 2017 death.
Besides her mother, Levinsohn is also survived by an older brother, Gary Levinsohn, who "loved her from the minute she was born and was so proud of what she became," her obituary said.
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