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Judge’s daughter’s boyfriend still uncharged in stab death

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

It is likely that new District Attorney Scott Ballard will be calling the shots if a Thomaston man, the boyfriend of Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr.’s daughter, is charged with murder for fatally stabbing another man during a fight in Thomaston July 25.

The earliest the case could be presented to an Upson County Grand Jury for possible indictment is in November, the final scheduled grand jury term for the year, noted current District Attorney Bill McBroom, who will be replaced by Ballard Jan. 1. Ballard, a Fayetteville attorney, beat McBroom in a cliffhanger election recount last week.

The suspect, David Colwell, has not yet been charged as authorities continue their investigation, said Capt. Richard McDaniel of the Thomaston Police Department. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the case, and police hope to present information to McBroom’s office next week, when a final decision will be made on possibly lodging charges against Colwell, McDaniel said.

According to police, Colwell was walking alone on a sidewalk in Thomaston when a car stopped near him, with Robert Bennett and Russ Stewart exiting the vehicle. A physical altercation ensued and at some point Colwell pulled a knife that he used to stab both Stewart and Bennett, police said.

Bennett was later pronounced dead at Upson Regional Medical Center, police said. Stewart was originally in critical condition after the fight, police said. Colwell also suffered a serious cut during the altercation, although it was not self-inflicted, McDaniel said.

Police have been unable to interview the second stabbing victim who survived, Russ Stewart, because he has acquired an attorney, McDaniel said.

“He (Stewart) was there when that transpired and he would know what was said,” before and during the deadly fight, McDaniel noted, adding that passengers who remained in the car were unaware of the reason for the physical confrontation.

Police are looking into whether the killing occurred while Colwell was defending himself, but no final determination has been made one way or the other, McDaniel said.

“We don’t want to come to any conclusions yet,” McDaniel said Tuesday.

McBroom said even though Judge Caldwell’s wife, Jan, is an employee of the DA’s office, there is no conflict in the case for the DA’s office since Kristen Caldwell was not present when the deadly fight occurred. McBroom said he was not even sure if Kristin Caldwell and Colwell were indeed “boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Neither Judge Caldwell nor Jan Caldwell have approached McBroom to discuss the case, the DA added.

McBroom said he has not talked with law enforcement officials about the case because the investigation hasn’t concluded.

McBroom noted that the GBI and the Thomaston Police Department are working the investigation. Some of the toxicology results might not be back for some time, as the GBI crime lab has a backup of about six months for similar tests, McBroom said.

Those tests must be in before the case can be presented to a grand jury, McBroom indicated.

The only charges filed in the case so far have been against the driver of the vehicle, Brian Huff of Thomaston, Kristin Caldwell’s ex-husband, who was charged with DUI and possession of an open container of alcohol.