Georgia · Paulding County · Death Investigation

Heather Turner Inquest: Paulding County, GA Coroner Orders Jury to Decide Her 2017 Manner of Death

A jury of five will hear sworn testimony in January and decide how Heather Turner died. The county coroner says she will not sign a suicide ruling she says she had no part in.

What did the Paulding County coroner announce?

Paulding County Coroner Lindsey Eberhart Fuller has ordered a coroner's inquest into the 2017 death of Heather Turner, and a jury will decide how she died.

Fuller laid out the details at a news conference Thursday, FOX 5 Atlanta and Atlanta News First reported. The inquest is set for January 2027 in the jury assembly room at the Paulding County Courthouse, according to FOX 5, which reported that Fuller blocked off significant time so jurors would not be rushed.

Five jurors and one alternate will be selected through the court system to review the case materials, examine the evidence and hear sworn testimony, FOX 5 reported.

"Heather Turner was more than how she died. She was not a headline. She was not a case file. She was not a case to close. She was a person," Fuller said, according to FOX 5 and Atlanta News First.

The inquest comes months after the Paulding County Sheriff's Office closed its investigation and concluded Turner died by suicide, CBS News Atlanta reported. Her death certificate still lists her manner of death as undetermined.

Who was Heather Turner, and how was she found?

Heather Turner was 35. She was found dead with a gunshot wound on May 4, 2017, CBS News Atlanta and Atlanta News First reported.

CBS News Atlanta placed her in the bathroom of her home on Buck Trail in Paulding County. Atlanta News First described the location as her Dallas home and the injury as a gunshot wound to the head.

It was her husband, Andy Turner, who made the 911 call, telling authorities she had died by suicide, CBS News Atlanta reported. FOX 5 reported that he found her inside the couple's home.

Her manner of death stayed listed as undetermined for years while investigators worked through forensic evidence, witness statements and other records, according to CBS News Atlanta. The case drew national attention through television programs, podcasts and online discussion, the outlet reported.

In 2022, Ashley Henson — then a spokesperson for the sheriff's office — said investigators still wanted a formal interview with Andy Turner, CBS News Atlanta reported. Turner has denied any role in her death, and said at the time that a book and movie contract kept him from talking about the case.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988.

What is a coroner's inquest?

It is not a criminal trial, and it does not decide whether anyone should be prosecuted, FOX 5 reported.

"A coroner's inquest is not a criminal prosecution and is not conducted to accuse, indict, establish guilt, or imply the criminal responsibility of any person," Fuller said, per FOX 5. "Its purpose is to allow an inquest jury to hear sworn testimony, consider the relevant evidence, and determine the manner and circumstances of Heather Turner's death."

The proceeding is civil, CBS News Atlanta reported. Fuller will preside, question witnesses and charge the jury with deliberating. Unlike a criminal jury, the five do not have to be unanimous — a simple majority decides.

Fuller told CBS News Atlanta that she will accept whatever the jury returns, and then plans to amend Turner's death certificate to reflect it. She said inquests do not happen often, according to Atlanta News First, but that she believes one is warranted here.

FOX 5 reported that under Georgia law, a coroner's inquest cannot be legally impaneled until the official law enforcement investigation has formally completed and closed. Fuller told CBS News Atlanta the sheriff's office first had to close its investigation before she could consider one.

What will the five jurors be asked to decide?

Turner's manner of death — the classification that goes on a death certificate.

Atlanta News First reported the jury will decide whether Turner's death was a homicide, a suicide, an accident, by natural causes or undetermined. 95.5 WSB listed the choices as suicide, homicide, natural or undetermined.

Fuller said she is not going in with an answer already chosen and is not assuming any particular manner of death, and that she will follow whatever the five jurors decide, FOX 5 reported.

"I was not entrusted with this office to borrow someone else's judgment," Fuller said, per FOX 5.

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Why won't the coroner sign the suicide ruling?

"Based on the information reviewed to date, I am not prepared to initiate or support an amendment of Heather Turner's death certificate from undetermined to suicide," Fuller said, according to FOX 5.

Fuller responded to the scene on May 4, 2017, FOX 5 reported, and documented early findings that included a bullet nobody could account for and a wall that looked as though it had been washed. The projectile turned up later, during the autopsy.

The medical examiner initially listed Turner's manner of death as undetermined, then changed that determination to suicide following a meeting in January, per FOX 5.

Fuller has said she was not included in those key meetings. She told CBS News Atlanta she was not part of the meeting involving the sheriff and district attorney, did not know it was taking place, and could not endorse a conclusion she had not independently reached.

She spent about five months on her own review of the case, she told CBS News Atlanta. FOX 5 reported that her position is that the forensic work done since does not cancel out what she recorded at the scene in 2017.

"The only way that I know I did the right thing for Heather Turner is to do this," Fuller told CBS News Atlanta. "And this might not be popular opinion that I am doing this, but my obligation. And at the end of the day I need to do my job."

She also told CBS News Atlanta: "We need to take the focus back to Heather Turner. This is a real person, and I want to be confident in my conclusions."

What did the sheriff's office conclude in February?

The sheriff's office announced Feb. 20 that it had closed its investigation after reviewing the case with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, medical examiners and local prosecutors, and that Turner's death was a suicide, FOX 5 reported.

Sheriff Ashley Henson ordered a renewed review after taking office, according to CBS News Atlanta. The office hired Eddie Herman, a retired Cobb County police investigator, to work the file as an outside cold-case analyst. Detectives went back through hundreds of reports, 911 recordings and forensic material, and took the case to the GBI's Medical Examiner's Office, GBI agents and the Paulding County District Attorney's Office.

Atlanta News First reported that a cold-case unit Henson formed worked the case alongside the GBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Capt. Mike Hill, the unit's commander, said SLED determined that Turner wrote a note found in the bathroom where she died, reading, "I'm sorry, I love you."

Investigators said hers was the only DNA on the gun's trigger guard, that gunshot residue showed on her hands but not on her husband's, and that a handwriting examination tied the note to her, CBS News Atlanta reported. Atlanta News First reported that an autopsy X-ray and bloodstain patterns were also cited as showing a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Henson acknowledged shortcomings in the original investigation, CBS News Atlanta reported, saying evidence collection and documentation had been mishandled before he became sheriff. Atlanta News First quoted him in February: "We changed our protocol in the way we process crime scenes. We now photograph more thoroughly. We actually also include videography of the scene itself, so we have a more exact and accurate representation of what the scene entails."

What has Heather Turner's family said?

Turner's family supports the decision, FOX 5 reported, and said: "Our family will continue seeking the truth, not out of anger, but out of love for Heather."

Her father, in a statement on Facebook, said: "Our family is asking for transparency regarding how the evidence was evaluated and why certain information appears to have been given greater weight than other evidence," according to CBS News Atlanta.

Fuller said, per FOX 5: "I can't promise closure to Heather's family. What I can promise is clarity through a fair and lawful process."

Has anyone been charged?

No. No one has been charged in Heather Turner's death.

Jordan Yuodis of the Paulding County Sheriff's Office told FOX 5: "The sheriff's office still stands by our original decision. If there was someone to arrest it would have happened long before now."

Andy Turner denied involvement in his wife's death, CBS News Atlanta reported. He has not been charged with anything, and the inquest is not a criminal proceeding.

Fuller said the inquest is not a criticism of any agency, FOX 5 reported. The sheriff's office has said it will cooperate with the coroner's office as the process moves forward.

What we don't know yet

Frequently asked questions

When is the Heather Turner inquest?
January 2027, in the jury assembly room at the Paulding County Courthouse, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The exact day has not been announced.

Who ordered the inquest?
Paulding County Coroner Lindsey Eberhart Fuller. She announced the decision in late July and laid out the details at a news conference on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026.

How many jurors will there be?
Five jurors and one alternate, summoned through the regular court jury process. CBS News Atlanta reported that the five do not have to be unanimous and that a simple majority decides.

What will the jury decide?
Heather Turner's manner of death. Atlanta News First listed the options as homicide, suicide, accident, natural causes or undetermined. 95.5 WSB listed them as suicide, homicide, natural or undetermined.

Is a coroner's inquest a criminal trial?
No. Fuller said an inquest is not a criminal prosecution and is not conducted to accuse, indict, establish guilt, or imply the criminal responsibility of any person. CBS News Atlanta reported the proceeding is civil.

How did Heather Turner die?
She was found with a gunshot wound on May 4, 2017. Her manner of death has been listed as undetermined. The Paulding County Sheriff's Office concluded in February that she died by suicide; the coroner has not signed off on that conclusion.

Has anyone been charged in Heather Turner's death?
No. No one has been charged. Jordan Yuodis of the Paulding County Sheriff's Office told FOX 5 Atlanta that the office stands by its original decision and that if there was someone to arrest it would have happened long before now.

Why won't the coroner change the death certificate?
Fuller said she is not prepared to initiate or support an amendment of Heather Turner's death certificate from undetermined to suicide based on the information reviewed to date. She has said she was excluded from key meetings where the ruling was changed.

What happens to the death certificate after the inquest?
Fuller told CBS News Atlanta she will accept whatever the jury decides and then plans to amend Turner's death certificate to reflect that determination.

Why is the inquest happening now and not years ago?
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that under Georgia law a coroner's inquest cannot be legally impaneled until the law enforcement investigation has formally completed and closed. The sheriff's office closed its investigation on Feb. 20.