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by Le Ann S. Tuggle
Could it be that my sister's death was the result of the
perfect South Georgia murder on a perfect September day? This is a story
of a murder, an illegal alien as a witness, and a husband who accused
the law enforcement of being "crooked" before moving to Costa Rica.
Doris Spillers Worrell, a native of Fort Valley, GA and a graduate of
both Middle Georgia College and the University of Georgia, was murdered
at her husband's place of business in Douglas, GA, on September 20,
2006. The only known witness was a teenaged girl who was staying with my
sister and her husband at the time of her death.
Doris and her husband, Jon Worrell, took in a young girl who was
"abandoned" by her aunt at the approximate age of fifteen. They agreed
to let her stay with them so she could finish high school. Shortly after
they agreed to let her stay with them, my sister found out that the girl
was an illegal immigrant who had been brought into the US by her aunt at
age five. She was not supposed to be in our country, but because of her
age, she was not immediately deported.
The young girl graduated from high school but did not leave my sister's
house. As time went on, my sister begged me to help her get the girl her
green card so she could get her out of her house. The girl had begun to
put a strain on my sister's marriage. She wanted the girl to get out of
her house so she could restore her marriage and raise her three young
children.
I received a call from a member of my brother-in-law's family at 1:07
p.m. the afternoon my sister was shot and killed. I was told that she
apparently had been shot by members of a Hispanic gang. Since Paola was
at the scene of the murder, I asked her if she could provide any clues
to who did this. She told me what she had observed and heard.
Two days after my sister's murder, I was approached by one of my
sister's best friends in Douglas. She asked me to tell the truth about
my sister's strained marriage if I was questioned by the GBI. Of course,
I was going to tell the truth and help in any way I could. I wanted
nothing less than my sister's murder to be resolved.
Things rocked along as well as possible as we went through the motions
of shock and grief during the first few days of Doris' death. The week
after Doris' death, the girl had a scheduled appointment with U.S.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to see about her immigration
status. I asked my brother-in-law and the girl if they would like for me
to try to reschedule the appointment since my sister had just been
murdered. They explained that it was difficult to get appointments with
ICE, and they would keep the appointment. I agreed to keep my nieces and
nephew while they went to the appointment in Atlanta. When I awakened in
the wee hours of the morning to see them off, I noticed the girl taking
my sister's driver's license from her wallet and questioned why she was
taking the license since my sister was dead. The girl said, "They don't
know that." At that point, I decided if she didn't realize that ICE had
probably already been informed of the death, that I didn't need to point
that out.
ICE denied the girl's request to remain in the U.S, but she wasn't
immediately deported because she had the right to an appeals process.
From day one, I was eager for information from the authorities, and I
continued to ask my brother-in-law if he had heard from the GBI. I
assumed since his wife was killed in his hometown at his place of
business that he and his father would stay on top of the investigation.
I continued to question why he wasn't hounding the authorities daily,
but I am sometimes very impatient and thought he was so grief-stricken
that he couldn't function. A few weeks after Doris' death, I asked my
brother-in-law if he had heard anything from the GBI. He told me that I
shouldn't trust the GBI because they were crooked. He told me that he
was afraid the same thing would happen to his oldest daughter. I was
devastated. I had already lost my sister and didn't want to risk putting
her children's lives in danger.
I started calling the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to check
with them on a routine basis, thinking that if my brother-in-law wasn't
able to ask them about the investigation, that I would.
My family and I maintained a relationship with my brother-in-law and his
children until May 2007. I would often go to Douglas and spent the night
and visit with the children. On my visits, I had a hard time accepting
the fact that Jon, the teenage girl, and the three children continued to
sleep on mattresses at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom. I
couldn't understand why this kind of behavior was going on.
At the beginning of May 2007, ICE picked up the girl because of her
citizenship issues. The night she was picked up, my brother-in-law's
sister called me. She said the authorities were questioning the girl
about Jon's part in Doris' death.
From that point on, we have not had a good relationship with the
husband's family. We have not seen the children, and have spoken to them
or had email contact with them on an extremely limited basis. I tried
sending small gifts to the children in the mail, but when a box of
school supplies was returned to me, it broke my heart.
Shortly after the girl was picked up, the brother-in-law moved to
Florida to live in his family's beach house. The children attended
school in Florida for the 2007-08 school year.
In July 2007, our family issued a statement to the Douglas newspapers
explaining that we were cooperating with the GBI and were appreciative
of all they were doing. This story ran on the front of one of the local
papers. Jon called my mother to say that that article had really upset
his oldest daughter. She was upset that the article made it looked like
her father wasn't doing anything to help find the murderer. Based on
what I know, the husband has never contacted the GBI to ask for help or
for an update in his wife's investigation.
In March 2008, the illegal alien had exhausted her immigration appeals
and was sent back to Venezuela, the country where she was born. As far
as I know, she was the only known witness to the murder of my sister.
In April 2008, two men, Glidden Rodriguez and Brandon Cage, were
arrested on conspiracy to commit murder charges.
In June 2008, my family held a press conference on the steps of the
Coffee County Courthouse and issued a statement about increasing the
reward. We also unveiled a billboard urging anyone with information to
call the authorities. Doris' husband and family did not participate. In
fact, he and his children went on a vacation to Central America.
In late August 2008, Jon withdrew his children from school in Florida
and moved to Costa Rica. I was distraught. I called Jon's father and
begged him to convince his son to return the children to the US to be
among family and friends. I offered to help him raise the children or to
stay out of their lives completely, as long as they were in the US and
were being raised the way my sister would want them to be raised. Her
father-in-law told me that it was essentially my fault that they had
ever had to leave Douglas. He told me that if I hadn't stirred up lots
of rumors, they would still be in Douglas in their old house, old
schools, and old community. I was devastated. Not only had I lost my
only sibling, but I had lost her children, too. Her father-in-law told
me if I would issue a public apology for all that I had said about his
family and if I would shut down the blogs about my sister's death, that
he would help me see the children again. I couldn't agree with his
terms.
I couldn't agree with his terms because I didn't start the blogs, and I
could not issue an apology for rumors that I did not instigate. As of
now, the case is still unresolved. The case remains under investigation,
but no suspects have been formally named. The two men that were arrested
are out on bond. The children and their father remain in Costa Rica, and
our family hasn't had any contact with them in almost to two years.
Those that are responsible for Doris's death must be brought to justice.
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