Georgia · Savannah, Chatham County · Crime & Courts

Charles Teeple Sentenced in Savannah, GA: 10 Years in Confinement and 10 on Probation in Bruce Helmly's Death

A Chatham County judge sentenced Charles Alexander Teeple IV on Wednesday over the New Year's Eve 2019 death of 66-year-old Bruce Helmly, WTOC reports, with counts merged into 10 years in confinement and 10 years on probation. The station's own headline calls it 20 years. Both figures are on this page, and the split is the part that matters.

The sentence, stated precisely

WTOC reports the sentence in two merged pairs, and this page reproduces that sentence rather than summarising it: “Teeple was convicted on four charges: battery, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and exploitation and intimidation of an elderly person. The battery and involuntary manslaughter convictions merged for a sentence of 10 years in confinement. The exploitation and intimidation charge and a second involuntary manslaughter count merged for 10 years on probation.”

So the confinement portion is 10 years. The probation portion is 10 years. Those are two different things, imposed on two different merged pairs of counts, and the difference between them is the difference between a prison cell and a supervision officer.

WTOC's own lede describes the total as 20 years: “A judge sentenced Charles Alexander Teeple IV to 20 years Wednesday in the 2019 New Year's Eve death of 66-year-old Bruce Helmly, citing Teeple's repeated alcohol-related arrests while out on bond.” The station's headline reads “Judge sentences man to 20 years in 2019 New Year's Eve punch death.”

Both figures are accurate and they answer different questions. Twenty is the arithmetic total of the two portions. Ten is how much of it WTOC reports as confinement. A reader who takes away only the first number has been given a picture twice as severe as the story supports.

One thing the account does not settle: whether the probation runs consecutively to the confinement or alongside it. That is the detail that decides whether 20 years is the outer length of the sentence or only its paper total, and it does not appear in the record compiled for this page.

Why “20 years” is the wrong way to describe it

A split sentence is the ordinary shape of a Georgia felony sentence, and it is routinely reported as though it were not. A court imposes a total, orders part of it served in confinement, and probates the balance. Reporting the total alone is not a rounding error. It describes a different sentence.

Consider what the two portions actually require of a person. The confinement portion is custody, with credit generally applied for time already served. The probation portion is life outside, under conditions a judge sets, with a probation officer, and with the standing possibility of revocation. One of those is prison. The other is not.

The distinction has practical consequences for the family of a victim too. Restitution, no-contact conditions and alcohol restrictions are typically attached to the probation portion, which means they only bind once that portion begins. Which conditions were imposed here does not appear in the record compiled for this page.

This page therefore leads with the structure, not the total, in the headline, the fact card and the first section. The total is published as well, attributed to WTOC, because the station reported it and readers will have seen it.

What he was convicted of, and what he was not

This is a conviction and a sentencing, so past conduct can be stated as established — but only as far as the jury actually went. That boundary is unusually important in this case, because what the jury returned is not what the state charged.

What the state tried him for, per WTOC's Dec. 19, 2025 verdict story: “Teeple was being tried for aggravated assault, two counts of felony murder, and exploitation and intimidation of an elder.”

What the jury returned, per the same story: “The jury found him guilty of battery, a lesser charge included with aggravated assault, and exploitation of an elder. They also found him guilty on two lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter, both were included in the felony murder charges.”

In plain terms, the jury did not convict him of felony murder or of aggravated assault as charged. It convicted on the lesser included offenses instead. That is why this page never uses the word murder to describe what he was convicted of, and why a sentence measured in years rather than in life imprisonment follows naturally from the verdict.

One fact both sides accepted. WTOC's verdict story reports: “Both sides agree that the punch happened.” The station reports the contested question was causation, with the defense arguing the prosecution's logic involved inferring that the punch caused Helmly's death, and the prosecution relying on statements from the doctor who provided the autopsy that his cause of death was from an assault.

What the judge said from the bench

WTOC reports that the judge said her decision was shaped by Teeple's conduct while awaiting trial, and quotes her directly. The quotation below is reproduced as WTOC published it, because a paraphrase of a judge at sentencing is worth very little.

“I have to say this court was extremely disturbed to learn while you were out on bond, which you got quicker than most, I was troubled to learn that you had not one but two arrests for drinking while driving when you were ordered per your bond condition not to drink at all,” the judge said, per WTOC. “I probably would have revoked bond if either one of those were brought to the court's attention.”

Read what that is and what it is not. It is a judge describing what she learned about a defendant's conduct on pretrial release, and explaining that it influenced the sentence she imposed. It is not a conviction on those arrests, it is not a finding about them, and this page does not describe their outcome, because nothing in the record compiled here does.

Bond conditions are court orders. A no-alcohol condition is a common one, and the remark quoted above is a judge saying, on the record, that she would have revoked release had she been told. Whether anyone had a duty to tell her, and why she was not, is not addressed in anything cited on this page.

WTOC's framing of the sentence ties the two together in its opening sentence, which describes the judge as “citing Teeple's repeated alcohol-related arrests while out on bond.”

Six years and seven months

The incident was Dec. 31, 2019. The sentencing was Aug. 12, 2026. That is six years and seven months. Nothing about this story is new, and a reader arriving at the headline could easily assume otherwise.

The timeline, from the sources. WTOC's Dec. 15, 2025 story reports Teeple was initially indicted in 2021, nearly two years after Helmly's death, and that the Chatham County District Attorney's Office re-indicted him with new and additional charges less than two weeks before trial. The same story reports his attorney had filed to delay the trial and that Judge Colbert denied the request, noting the case had already been set for trial five times.

Jury selection began Dec. 15, 2025, per that story, which reports he had pleaded not guilty to four charges. WTOC reports the jury returned its verdict the following Friday, Dec. 19.

Sentencing then slipped twice more. WSAV reported on April 7, 2026 that Teeple was “supposed to be sentenced on June 1” and that three remaining jurors were set to testify in the misconduct hearing on June 22. The sentencing landed on Aug. 12.

Two case numbers survive the process. The Superior Court of Chatham County's published criminal calendar for Aug. 12, 2026 lists SPCR25-03340-J3 for the sentencing and motion hearing and SPCR21-01745-J3 for a motion hearing, both under the name Charles Alexander Teeple IV. That is the paper trail of a 2021 indictment and a 2025 re-indictment sitting on the same docket.

Bruce Helmly, and what this page will not dwell on

Bruce Helmly was 66 years old and lived in Savannah. WTOC's Dec. 15, 2025 story reports prosecutors say he was a retired master firefighter with the City of Savannah Fire Department. An earlier WTOC headline on the case describes him as a great-grandfather.

What he died of, stated once. WTOC reports prosecutors say he was punched in the head on New Year's Eve 2019 at Basil's Bar on Wilmington Island, that he fell into a coma shortly afterward, and that he died in the hospital several days later. The station reports the prosecution used statements from the doctor who provided the autopsy saying his cause of death was from an assault.

That is the whole of it on this page. There is no further clinical description here, no photograph, and nothing about his family beyond the one line of testimony described in the next section. A man who was 66 and a case built on elder-victim counts do not need embellishment to be understood.

What the sentencing hearing looked like

WTOC reports that both sides called six witnesses during the sentencing hearing. A sentencing hearing in a Georgia felony case is where the court hears from people the verdict did not: family members, character witnesses, and often the defendant.

From the victim's side. WTOC reports that Helmly's daughter testified that her father's death led her into drug use and depression.

From the defense side. WTOC reports that witnesses called by the defense said they were aware of what Teeple had done but believed he was capable of repentance with support.

Teeple spoke. WTOC reports that he took the stand during the sentencing hearing and apologized to Helmly's family. The station does not quote him, and this page does not invent words for him.

None of that is a finding. Testimony at a sentencing hearing is offered to persuade a judge about punishment, after guilt has already been decided. It is exactly as reliable as the person saying it, and a judge weighs it against everything else in the file.

What happened after the sentence was imposed

The hearing did not end when the sentence did. WTOC reports: “After sentencing, the defense argued that misconduct occurred while the jurors were deliberating over the verdict.”

Jurors were questioned remotely. WTOC reports the defense “brought in multiple jurors over zoom and asked about their time during the trial,” and that “The state asked for more time to review and the judge granted that opportunity.”

WTOC frames the outcome as unresolved, closing: “So the Teeple trial has concluded, but his time in a courtroom is not over yet, and we could see a retrial depending on the results of any potential misconduct.”

What that means in ordinary terms. A motion for new trial is the standard vehicle for a claim like this, and it is decided by the trial judge before any appeal is heard. WTOC reported in March 2026 that the defense was already seeking a new trial ahead of sentencing; nothing in the record compiled for this page states how that motion stands now. A judge who grants one wipes out the verdict and the sentence and the case starts again; a judge who denies one leaves both standing and the defense may appeal. Nothing in the record compiled for this page says which way this is headed, and this page makes no prediction and no promise to revisit it.

The juror misconduct claim, from April

The claim is older than the sentencing, and it is the reason the sentencing kept moving. Everything in this section comes from WSAV's April 7, 2026 story, which is the one account here from an owner other than Gray Media.

The allegation. WSAV reports that in Judge Lisa G. Colbert's courtroom, defense attorney Matt Adkins claimed conversations involving a Chatham County sheriff's deputy during deliberations could have influenced how quickly the jury reached its guilty verdict. WSAV quotes Adkins: “We are not here for jury regret. We are here because an officer of the court told the jury how late they may have to stay or they might have to come back next week.”

The state's answer. WSAV reports Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schlager argued the statement was probably said throughout the whole week, and quotes him: “A statement to a bailiff or a question to a bailiff that is answered by a bailiff earlier in the week is not a communication that is covered under this case law. It's not an improper communication.”

What the jurors said. WSAV reports the defense put two jurors on the stand and the prosecution called eight more. One juror described sending the judge a written note with the question while also asking a deputy verbally, and is quoted saying: “To the best of my memory, it was something along the lines of, 'You might have to be here until 10 or 11. I don't know.” WSAV reports the other jurors were less certain about a specific time, that some heard an answer of “I don't know” or a shrug, and that some did not hear the exchange at all.

What the bailiff said. WSAV reports that when the bailiff, identified as Deputy Young, was asked whether she remembered the exchange, she responded, “I do not recall.”

A claim is not a finding. No ruling on the misconduct claim appears in anything cited on this page, and WTOC's Aug. 12 account says the state was still reviewing.

This page rests on one newsroom for the sentencing

Say it plainly rather than dress it up: the Aug. 12 sentencing on this page comes from a single newsroom. That is publishable. What is not acceptable is implying more corroboration than exists.

WTOC is a Savannah television station owned by Gray Media. On this site a broadcast group counts once, by owner rather than by call letters. Three WTOC stories are cited here — the Aug. 12 sentencing story, the Dec. 19, 2025 verdict story and the Dec. 15, 2025 trial-start story — and together they are one newsroom.

WSAV is a genuinely separate owner, and it is not a second account of the sentencing. WSAV is a Nexstar station, and the story cited here is its April 7, 2026 report on the juror misconduct hearing. It corroborates the shape of the case, the judge's identity and the December verdict. It says nothing about what happened on Aug. 12.

The court calendar is a primary document, not a newsroom. The Superior Court of Chatham County publishes its own criminal calendars, and the one for Aug. 12, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 3A lists the judge, the case numbers, the assistant district attorney and defense counsel. It confirms that the hearing was scheduled. It is not independent confirmation of what happened inside it.

A search for a second newsroom's account of this sentencing produced nothing this page could open and read. Other Savannah outlets exist and their front pages responded to a request; no story of theirs on the Aug. 12 sentencing entered the record compiled for this page, and this page makes no claim about what any of them did or did not publish.

Where our sources differ

Four accounts sit behind this page: WTOC's Aug. 12 sentencing story, WTOC's two December 2025 stories, WSAV's April 2026 story and the Superior Court of Chatham County's own criminal calendar. Nothing below is averaged, merged or resolved. Where an account does not carry a point, the table says so rather than implying agreement.

One internal conflict, published rather than tidied. WTOC's Dec. 19, 2025 verdict story says in one paragraph that the jury reached a verdict just before 7:00 p.m. Friday and in the next that news of the verdict came down just before 6:30 p.m. Friday. Both sentences are in the same story. This page reports the discrepancy and does not choose between them.

How Georgia sentencing works

This section is general background on Georgia procedure. It is not a description of any specific finding in this case beyond what is reported above.

The judge sentences. The jury does not. A Georgia jury decides guilt count by count and then its job ends. Sentencing is a separate hearing, held later, where both sides may present evidence and argument about punishment.

The sentence has to be determinate and inside the statutory range. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-1, the judge is directed to prescribe a determinate sentence for a specific number of months or years within the minimum and maximum sentences prescribed by law for the offense. A judge cannot invent a range the legislature did not write.

The same statute is where probation comes from. It gives the judge power and authority to suspend or probate all or any part of the entire sentence under such rules and regulations as the judge deems proper, and to revoke the suspension or probation when the defendant has violated any of the rules and regulations prescribed by the court.

Sentences on multiple counts run consecutively or concurrently, and which one applies is stated in the sentencing order. Consecutive means one after another. Concurrent means at the same time. It is the difference between two ten-year counts producing twenty years and producing ten.

The sentencing sheet is the authority, not the news coverage. Any description of a sentence in a news story, including this one, is a summary of a document. The document is public and can be requested from the clerk.

What merged counts mean

Merger is the rule that stops one act from being punished twice. When two convictions arise from the same conduct, and one offense is legally included in the other or both are established by proof of the same facts, a Georgia court merges them for sentencing and imposes a single sentence for the pair.

What merger does not do is erase the verdict. The jury's finding on the merged count stands. What disappears is the separate sentence. That is why WTOC can accurately report four convictions and two sentences in the same story without contradicting itself.

Why it matters to a reader trying to count the years. Four convictions with four sentences stacked would produce a very different number from four convictions merged into two. In this case, per WTOC, the merger produced one sentence of 10 years in confinement and one of 10 years on probation.

Merger is also a common appellate issue. Defendants argue counts should have merged and did not; the state argues the opposite. Nothing in the record compiled for this page says merger is contested here.

Confinement, probation and what separates them

Confinement means custody. Time is served in jail or in a state prison. Credit is generally applied for time already served before sentencing, so the calendar date a person walks out is not the sentence length subtracted from the sentencing date.

Probation means supervised release into the community. A probation officer, reporting requirements, conditions set by the court, fees, and often restitution. It is a sentence, and describing someone on probation as having served no sentence is wrong. It is also not confinement, and describing it as prison time is equally wrong.

Probation can be revoked. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-1, a judge who suspended or probated part of a sentence may revoke it when the defendant violates the rules and regulations the court prescribed. A revocation can send a person into confinement for the balance.

Conditions are where the practical consequences live. Alcohol restrictions, no-contact orders and restitution are typically attached to the probation portion. What conditions were imposed in this case does not appear in the record compiled for this page.

Lesser included offenses, and why a jury can return one

This section is general background. It exists because the verdict in this case cannot be read without it.

A jury is not limited to the counts as charged. Where the evidence supports it, the court instructs jurors that they may convict on a lesser offense that is included within a greater one. Battery is a lesser included offense of aggravated assault. Involuntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense of a murder count.

Returning a lesser included offense is a specific kind of answer. It says the jury was satisfied that some criminal conduct was proved, and not satisfied on the element that makes the greater offense greater — typically intent, or the use of a deadly weapon, or the underlying felony in a felony murder theory.

That is what WTOC reports happened here. Tried for aggravated assault and two counts of felony murder, the jury returned battery and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, plus a conviction on the elder count. The result is a conviction, and it is not a murder conviction, and both halves of that sentence are true at once.

The Georgia statutes behind these counts

Statute text below is general legal background. It describes the statutory ranges, not how any individual count in this case was sentenced.

• O.C.G.A. § 16-5-3 — Involuntary manslaughter. Subsection (a) covers causing the death of another human being without any intention to do so by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony, and carries imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years. Subsection (b) covers causing a death by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm, and is punished as a misdemeanor
• O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102 — Exploitation and intimidation of disabled adults, elder persons, or residents. Subsection (a) provides that a person who knowingly and willfully exploits, or willfully inflicts physical pain, physical injury, sexual abuse, mental anguish or unreasonable confinement upon, a disabled adult, elder person or resident shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both
• O.C.G.A. § 16-5-23.1 — Battery. Subsection (a) provides that a person commits the offense of battery when he or she intentionally causes substantial physical harm or visible bodily harm to another. A first offense is generally a misdemeanor, with escalated penalties in circumstances the statute enumerates
• O.C.G.A. § 17-10-1 — Fixing of sentence. Directs the judge to prescribe a determinate sentence for a specific number of months or years within the minimum and maximum prescribed by law, and gives the judge power and authority to suspend or probate all or any part of the entire sentence, and to revoke that suspension or probation on a violation

Notice how the ranges frame the outcome. Ten years is the statutory maximum for involuntary manslaughter under subsection (a) of § 16-5-3. The elder-person count under § 16-5-102 carries a range up to 20 years. Those ceilings are the boundaries a Georgia judge works inside, and they are the reason a case that began as a murder prosecution ends in a sentence measured this way.

Elder-victim counts in Georgia

Georgia treats offenses against elder persons as their own category, which is why a single incident can produce both a general assault-family count and a separate elder count arising from the same conduct.

The elder statute is broader than financial exploitation, although that is the version most people picture. The text of § 16-5-102(a) also reaches willfully inflicting physical pain or physical injury, mental anguish or unreasonable confinement on a disabled adult, elder person or resident.

The count is what elevated this case's exposure. Battery on its own is generally a misdemeanor. The elder count is a felony carrying up to 20 years, and it is the count WTOC reports merged with a second involuntary manslaughter count for the 10 years on probation.

Georgia also runs a separate reporting system for elder abuse, handled through adult protective services rather than through a criminal court, and a family does not need a prosecution to be open in order to use it.

Who prosecuted and who presided

Chatham County felonies are prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office for the Eastern Judicial Circuit, whose own site lists it at 133 Montgomery Street, Suite 600, Savannah, Georgia 31401, phone (912) 652-7308. WTOC's Dec. 15, 2025 story reports that the Chatham County District Attorney's Office re-indicted Teeple with new and additional charges shortly before trial.

WTOC does not name the prosecutor at the sentencing. The Superior Court's published calendar for Aug. 12, 2026 lists the assistant district attorney on the sentencing case as Jones, Kevin John, and lists Schlager, Matthew Curtiss on the older case set for a motion hearing that same afternoon. WSAV named Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schlager as arguing for the state at the April hearing.

The judge is not named in WTOC's sentencing story. The calendar lists Colbert, Lisa Goldwire, in Courtroom 3A. WSAV placed the April hearing in Judge Lisa G. Colbert's courtroom, and WTOC reported in December 2025 that Judge Colbert denied a defense continuance request.

Defense counsel of record on the calendar is Murray, Lloyd Dan, Sr., with co-counsel Adkins, Matthew Dale. WSAV identified Matt Adkins as the defense attorney arguing the juror misconduct claim in April.

How to get the court record in Chatham County

The sentencing sheet is a public document and it is the only authoritative statement of the sentence. Every description on this page is a summary of what a newsroom said about that document.

Start with a case number. The Superior Court's published calendar for Aug. 12, 2026 lists SPCR25-03340-J3 and SPCR21-01745-J3 under the name Charles Alexander Teeple IV. A case number gets you past the problem of common names.

The custodian is the Clerk of Superior Court in Savannah, which holds indictments, dockets, filed motions and sentencing documents for Chatham County felony cases. Ask for the sentencing sheet by case number and by date of hearing.

Police investigative files are a different request entirely, made under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 and the sections that follow it. Under § 50-18-71 an agency must produce responsive records within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days, and where responsive records exist but cannot be produced in that window it must provide a description of such records and a timeline for their delivery.

If a request is refused, ask which exemption applies. Subsection (d) requires an agency withholding all or part of a record to notify the requester of the specific legal authority exempting it.

Copies are capped by statute at ten cents per page for letter or legal size documents, plus the actual cost of the media for other formats, and an agency is required to give a cost estimate before running one up.

Court calendars are published online. The Superior Court of Chatham County posts its own criminal calendars, which is how the judge, courtroom, case numbers and counsel on this page were confirmed against a primary document rather than against a news summary.

Victim resources in Georgia

This section is general information for readers, not a statement about anyone in this case.

• The Georgia Crime Victims Compensation Program, administered by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, states that the maximum program award is $25,000 per victim, per victimization, with sub-caps including up to $15,000 for medical expenses, up to $6,000 for funeral expenses, up to $3,000 for counseling and up to $10,000 for lost wages
• Two requirements decide most claims. The program states that the crime must have been reported to the proper authorities within 72 hours unless good cause is shown, and that for crimes on or after July 1, 2014 a claim must be filed within three years of the crime or of the victim's death
• A victim advocate is free and is attached to the prosecutor's office. Georgia district attorneys staff victim-witness programs that handle notification of court dates, explain what a hearing will involve and accompany families to it. For a Chatham County case, that is the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office
• Georgia's Marsy's Law rights include being treated with dignity, being notified of proceedings and being heard at certain hearings, including sentencing. Those rights generally have to be requested rather than arriving automatically
• Elder abuse has its own reporting route through adult protective services, which operates independently of any criminal case and does not require a prosecution to be open
• Grief and trauma support is a separate track from anything a court provides. WTOC's account of this hearing includes a family member describing what a death did to her, years later, which is the ordinary shape of these cases rather than the exception

What we don't know yet

• Whether the probation runs consecutively to the confinement or concurrently with it. This is the single most consequential unknown on the page, because it decides whether the total is a 20-year sentence or a 10-year one with a probated tail
• The conditions of probation — restitution, alcohol restrictions, no-contact orders — none of which appear in the record compiled for this page
• Credit for time served, and therefore any actual release date
• Charles Teeple's age. Not published in any of the news accounts compiled for this page, and not supplied here from anywhere else
• How the juror misconduct claim was resolved, or whether it has been. WTOC reports the state was granted more time to review it
• Whether a post-sentencing motion for new trial has been filed, and on what grounds. WTOC reported in March 2026, under the headline “Defense seeks new trial for man convicted in fatal Chatham County assault,” that the defense was already seeking one before sentencing; how that motion was resolved does not appear in the record compiled for this page, and no appeal appears in it either
• The outcome of the two arrests the judge described from the bench. This page does not characterize them beyond quoting her
• Which count carried which sentence within each merged pair, beyond the pairing WTOC reports
• What Teeple said when he took the stand, beyond WTOC's report that he apologized to Helmly's family
• Whether any other newsroom covered the Aug. 12 sentencing. No second account entered the record compiled for this page, and this page makes no claim about what any outlet did or did not publish

This page is a record of what was published and verifiable at the time stamped on it. It is not updated as the case proceeds, and it makes no promise to revisit any of the questions above.

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Frequently asked questions

What sentence did Charles Teeple actually receive?
WTOC reports the sentence in two merged pairs: “The battery and involuntary manslaughter convictions merged for a sentence of 10 years in confinement. The exploitation and intimidation charge and a second involuntary manslaughter count merged for 10 years on probation.” So the confinement portion is 10 years and the probation portion is 10 years. WTOC's own lede describes the total as 20 years. Whether the probation runs after the confinement or alongside it is not stated in the record compiled for this page, and that detail is what decides whether 20 years is the outer length of the sentence or only its paper total.

Is it accurate to say he got 20 years in prison?
No, and it is the single easiest way to get this story wrong. WTOC's headline reads “Judge sentences man to 20 years in 2019 New Year's Eve punch death,” and its first sentence says a judge sentenced Charles Alexander Teeple IV to 20 years. But the same story then breaks the sentence into 10 years in confinement and 10 years on probation. Confinement and probation are not the same thing and are not served in the same place. Reporting the total without the split tells a reader he will be locked up for twice as long as the story actually says.

What was Charles Teeple convicted of?
WTOC reports he “was convicted on four charges: battery, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and exploitation and intimidation of an elderly person.” WTOC's Dec. 19, 2025 story on the verdict reports the jury found him guilty of battery as a lesser charge included with aggravated assault, guilty of exploitation of an elder, and guilty on two lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter that were included in the felony murder charges.

What was he not convicted of?
WTOC's Dec. 19, 2025 story reports he “was being tried for aggravated assault, two counts of felony murder, and exploitation and intimidation of an elder,” and that the jury instead returned the lesser included offenses of battery and involuntary manslaughter. In plain terms, the jury did not convict him of felony murder or of aggravated assault as charged. That distinction is why the sentence is measured in years rather than in life imprisonment, and it is the difference between what the state alleged and what a jury actually found.

What does it mean that counts merged?
Merger is a sentencing rule that stops one act from being punished twice. When two convictions arise from the same conduct, and one is legally included in the other or they are established by the same facts, the court merges them and imposes a single sentence for the pair rather than stacking two. The conviction is still on the record; the second sentence is not. WTOC describes two merged pairs here: battery merged with an involuntary manslaughter count for the 10 years in confinement, and the exploitation and intimidation count merged with a second involuntary manslaughter count for the 10 years on probation.

What is the difference between confinement and probation?
Confinement means custody: time served in jail or in a state prison, with credit generally given for time already served before sentencing. Probation means release into the community under court-imposed conditions, supervised by a probation officer, with rules that can include reporting requirements, restrictions on alcohol, employment obligations, fees and restitution. Violating probation can send a person back into confinement for the remaining balance. A sentence of 10 years in confinement and 10 years on probation is not a 20-year prison term, and the two portions can run consecutively or concurrently depending on what the court ordered.

Who was Bruce Helmly?
WTOC reports he was 66 years old and a Savannah resident. Its Dec. 15, 2025 story reports that prosecutors say Helmly, “a retired master firefighter with the City of Savannah Fire Department, was punched in the head on New Year's Eve 2019 at Basil's Bar on Wilmington Island,” and that he later died in the hospital several days after the incident. WTOC's Dec. 19, 2025 story reports prosecutors say he fell into a coma shortly after and died days later, and that the prosecution used statements from the doctor who provided the autopsy saying his cause of death was from an assault. Its earlier headline on the case describes him as a great-grandfather.

When did this happen, and why did sentencing take until 2026?
The incident was on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2019. The sentencing was on Aug. 12, 2026. That is six years and seven months, and nothing about this case is recent. WTOC's Dec. 15, 2025 story reports Teeple was initially indicted in 2021, nearly two years after Helmly's death, and that the Chatham County District Attorney's Office re-indicted him with new and additional charges shortly before trial. The same story reports Judge Colbert denied a defense request to delay the trial, noting the case had already been set for trial five times. The jury returned its verdict in December 2025, and WSAV reported in April 2026 that sentencing was then expected on June 1, which did not hold either.

What did the judge say at sentencing?
WTOC reports that the judge said her decision was shaped by Teeple's conduct while awaiting trial, and quotes her as follows: “I have to say this court was extremely disturbed to learn while you were out on bond, which you got quicker than most, I was troubled to learn that you had not one but two arrests for drinking while driving when you were ordered per your bond condition not to drink at all.” The station reports she added: “I probably would have revoked bond if either one of those were brought to the court's attention.” Those are the judge's words at sentencing, not a description of any conviction.

Who presided over the sentencing?
WTOC's account refers only to “the judge” and uses female pronouns. The Superior Court of Chatham County's own published criminal calendar for Aug. 12, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 3A lists the judge as Colbert, Lisa Goldwire, and lists a Sentencing and Motion Hearing for Charles Alexander Teeple IV. WSAV, reporting on an earlier hearing in the same case in April 2026, placed that hearing in Judge Lisa G. Colbert's courtroom, and WTOC's Dec. 15, 2025 story reports Judge Colbert denied a defense continuance request before trial.

What happened after the sentence was imposed?
WTOC reports that after sentencing the defense argued misconduct occurred while the jurors were deliberating over the verdict, that the defense “brought in multiple jurors over zoom and asked about their time during the trial,” and that “The state asked for more time to review and the judge granted that opportunity.” The station's closing line reads: “So the Teeple trial has concluded, but his time in a courtroom is not over yet, and we could see a retrial depending on the results of any potential misconduct.”

What is the juror misconduct claim actually about?
The claim predates the sentencing. WSAV reported on April 7, 2026 that at a hearing in Judge Lisa G. Colbert's courtroom, defense attorney Matt Adkins claimed conversations involving a Chatham County sheriff's deputy during deliberations could have influenced how quickly the jury reached its verdict. WSAV quotes Adkins saying: “We are not here for jury regret. We are here because an officer of the court told the jury how late they may have to stay or they might have to come back next week.” WSAV reports Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schlager argued the exchange was not improper, quoting him: “A statement to a bailiff or a question to a bailiff that is answered by a bailiff earlier in the week is not a communication that is covered under this case law. It's not an improper communication.” WSAV reports the bailiff, identified as Deputy Young, said of the exchange, “I do not recall.”

How does sentencing work in Georgia?
The judge sentences, not the jury. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-1 the judge is directed to prescribe a determinate sentence for a specific number of months or years within the minimum and maximum set by law for that offense, and the same section gives the judge power and authority to suspend or probate all or any part of the entire sentence under such rules and regulations as the judge deems proper, and to revoke the suspension or probation if the defendant violates the court's rules. That is the machinery that produces a split sentence like this one: a total figure, part of it ordered served in confinement and part of it probated.

What are the statutes behind these counts?
Involuntary manslaughter is O.C.G.A. § 16-5-3. Subsection (a) covers causing the death of another human being without any intention to do so by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony, and carries imprisonment of not less than one nor more than ten years. Exploitation and intimidation of an elder person is O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102, whose subsection (a) makes it a felony punishable by imprisonment of not less than one nor more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both. Battery is O.C.G.A. § 16-5-23.1, which defines the offense as intentionally causing substantial physical harm or visible bodily harm to another and treats a first offense as a misdemeanor. These are the general statutory ranges, not a statement of how any individual count here was sentenced.

How many independent newsrooms stand behind this page?
For the Aug. 12 sentencing itself, one. WTOC is a Savannah television station owned by Gray Media, and this site counts a broadcast group once by owner rather than by call letters, so the three WTOC stories cited here are one newsroom. A second owner appears on this page only for an earlier stage of the case: WSAV is a Nexstar station, and its April 7, 2026 story is cited for the juror misconduct hearing, not for the sentencing. The Superior Court of Chatham County criminal calendar is a primary court document rather than a newsroom. A search for a second newsroom's account of the sentencing turned up nothing that could be opened and read for this page.

How do I get the court record in Chatham County?
Chatham County felony case files sit with the Clerk of Superior Court in Savannah. The Superior Court's own published calendar for Aug. 12, 2026 lists two case numbers for Charles Alexander Teeple IV, SPCR25-03340-J3 for the sentencing and motion hearing and SPCR21-01745-J3 for a motion hearing, and a case number is the single most useful thing to walk in with. Sentencing sheets, the indictment and the docket are generally available for inspection. A police investigative file is a separate request under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 and the sections that follow it, and § 50-18-71 requires an agency to produce responsive records within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days, providing a description of the records and a timeline where they cannot be produced in that window.