Editor’s Note: Any text that appears below in italics is opinion-based and should be interpreted as such when taking into account the information provided.
UPDATE
On September 26th, 2024 the City of Newnan responded to an NCST open records request for more information with the following:
No records regarding your request exist. Due to a potential connection between staff and an involved individual, the Newnan Police Department requested the assistance of the GBI.
GBI Leads the Investigation
One of the most asked questions I’ve received regarding the murder has been regarding the involvement of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ( GBI ) and how it became the lead agency in the investigation.
As of the posting of this article, there’s been no official reason given behind this decision.
While many have opined that their involvement may be due to the fact the crime scene is at a store that sells guns. In all the cases I can find, and in my experience, that would explain possible involvement by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms ( ATF ), which we’ve yet to see in this case.
Most Common Reasons for GBI Involvement
The GBI is the state’s independent agency that supports the state’s criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investigations, forensic laboratory services, and computerized criminal justice information. The GBI Investigative Division is the largest within the agency.
In my experience and research, agencies request the involvement of the GBI for two primary reasons, though it should be noted that agencies can request the assistance of the GBI for any reason.
The first reason, which I would find the least likely in this situation is when a small agency requests help because they don’t have the resources or experience to effectively investigate a particular incident. We’ve seen this locally when 3 members of the Hawk family were tragically murdered at the Lock Stock and Barrell shooting range in Grantville. Grantville, a relatively small department quickly sought the assistance of the GBI as well as other other agencies in investigating the triple murder.
The second, and I believe the more likely reason is to overcome any perceived or actual conflict of interest between the agency or its officers and the suspect or victims of the crime.
The GBI is probably most well known as the agency that is nearly always asked to investigate use of force events by local agencies, most notably Officer Involved Shootings. In these situations the conflict of interest is apparent – an agency investigating the actions of one or more of their own officers with whom one could assume there is a possible personal relationship.
In fact, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office requested that the GBI investigate an Officer Involved Shooting that occurred on Thursday, September 19th, 2024 when a suspect attempted to stab deputies and was shot multiple times at a residence off Hawthorne Dr. Full details of that incident can be found at this link.
The Right Decision
Regardless of the reason, it’s more than likely a great decision by the Newnan Police Department. The information shows that the request was made quickly allowing the GBI to arrive and begin the investigation quickly.
If for some reason they believed there to be a conflict or some aspect of the crime is peculiar and they decided they needed additional resources, the quick recognition of that and the decision to bring in the GBI should be celebrated and seen as a testament to strong leadership within the Newnan Police Department.
Requests for Clarification
In accordance with the statement released by the Newnan Police Department on Saturday, Sept 21st, directing all requests pertaining to the incident to be sent to the GBI Media Affairs office, we sent the following request.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Media Affairs Office
On September 23rd at 9:14 AM, NCST sent the following request to the GBI Media Affairs Office via Email.
Good Morning,
I was wondering if you could shed some light on the reasoning behind the Newnan Police Department requesting that your office take the lead in the investigation into the shooting death of Olivia Faith Robinson by William Brannon Owens in Newnan on Friday, Sept 20th.
Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated,
[NCST]
On September 23rd at 9:45 AM, NCST received the following reply to our request.
Good morning, [NCST],
You can certainly reach out to the P.D. and ask since they made the request. But keep in mind, it’s not unusual for the GBI to investigate a homicide. Our role is to support local law enforcement in criminal investigations which include all types of cases – many of them homicides. By law, the GBI just has to be requested to assist in the investigation.
Nelly Miles
Director – Office of Public & Governmental Affairs
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Newnan Police Department via City of Newnan Public Information Office ( Aimee Haden )
In accordance with the response provided by the GBI, we submitted the following request to the City of Newnan Public Information Office using its ” Media Inquiry ” option on the City’s Open Records Portal.
On September 23rd at 10:13 AM, NCST generated the following request via the City of Newnan Open Records Portal.
Good Morning,
Per your post regarding inquiries related to the Robinson murder needing to go through the GBI, I sent a request to the GBI.
Please see the attached request and reply by the GBI Media Representative.
In line with their direction, I’m now making the request from the City of Newnan / Newnan Police Department.
I’m requesting a comment on the reasoning behind the decision to request that the GBI take over the investigation into the Sept 20th death of Olivia Faith Robinson by the Newnan Police Department.
If needed, please feel free to give me a call regarding the matter.
Thank you for your assistance.
[NCST]
The request was generated and assigned a Request # of 24-2448 and the system shows that it’s been forwarded by the system to Aimee Hadden. Attached was a .pdf file of the email of the GBI request above.
On September 26th, the request was closed and the following information was provided by the City of Newnan in response.
No records regarding your request exist. Due to a potential connection between staff and an involved individual, the Newnan Police Department requested the assistance of the GBI.
