Family recalls giving spirit of slain woman

WARNER ROBINS -- It’s been nearly two weeks since 47-year-old Joni Clements was shot to death Feb. 8 in her Warner Robins home.

A large purple ribbon honoring her memory is tied around a tree in the front yard of the two-story house at 309 Westwood Drive.

Purple was her favorite color, said her brother-in-law Tom Bussineau of Charleston, S.C. He’s the family spokesman.

“It’s the same story,” said Bussineau of talking with family and friends about his sister-in-law. “She was very helpful. She’d do anything for you.”

Bussineau recalled the first time he met her. He was out of work, and she offered to help him find a job.

No one can imagine that Clements, a nurse, devoted mother and friend to all she met, had an enemy, Bussineau said. Warner Robins police haven’t told the family what they may suspect, although officers did remove the front door and take a lot of belongings from the family home, Bussineau said.

“There’s compelling evidence on the front door,” Bussineau said police told the family. Officers did not elaborate. “They just repeated that over and over.”

The family isn’t sure if the home was burglarized or not, Bussineau said. Police took so much stuff, an inventory that totaled eight pages, it’s hard to tell, he said.

Police also searched Clements’ black GMC Envoy; the car of her adult daughter, Jorden Anne “Jordi” Clements, 20; and the vehicle of the daughter’s boyfriend, Christopher Mixon, 21, Bussineau said.

Officers also removed some items from the workplace of her husband, James E. “Eddy” Clements Jr., who was on the flight line at Robins Air Force Base with co-workers on the second shift the night his wife’s body was discovered, Bussineau said.

Police were also summoned to the home exactly one week prior to the fatal shooting when the daughter was home alone and someone apparently tried to come in through the front door, according to a police incident report.

“That’s a natural thought,” Bussineau said when asked if the prior incident might be related to the homicide. “But we have no clue. ... We have no concrete anything.”

The homicide revisited

What police have released so far is that Joni Clements died from multiple gunshot wounds to her chest and torso, based on the autopsy. Her body was found by Mixon when he and Jordi Clements arrived at the home that Tuesday night, according to Tabitha Pugh, public information officer for Warner Robins police.

Eddy Clements, a sheet metal mechanic for the 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Robins, was not at home when the shooting occurred, Pugh said. The 911 call about the shooting came in at 9:08 p.m., she said.

Joni Clements, a clinical nurse for the 78th Medical Operations Squadron at Robins, came home from work at about 4:30 p.m., placing the time of death between when she came home and the 911 call, said Houston County Coroner Danny Galpin.

Tests are being done to attempt to determine the type of gun used in the homicide, and the number of times Clements was shot was not released.

Mixon, considered a member of the Clements’ family, was the first to arrive at the home that night, Bussineau said. Mixon found the body, he called 911, and 911 told Mixon to leave the house for his safety, Bussineau said.

Mixon saw Joni Clements’ vehicle when he arrived but found the home dark inside, Bussineau said. The family’s two dogs, each a Doberman pinscher mix, were still crated, he said. Joni Clements usually let the dogs out of the crates when she came home, Bussineau said.

Bussineau wasn’t sure if the front door was locked, unlocked or broken, or if Mixon had a key. Bussineau also wasn’t certain on the timeline except that Mixon arrived first and would not let Jordi Clements see the body.

Neighbors said that the realization that something was amiss came from the arrival of police and emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens. One neighbor thought Eddy Clements might have had a heart attack.

Neighbors were shocked to learn of the homicide, and some in proximity to the Clements’ home have kept outside lights on through the night since the incident. One next-door neighbor has not yet returned home. She said she and her two children are staying with her mother.

The Clements family is staying at an undisclosed location, Bussineau said. The family has spent the last several days removing belongings from the home after police released the house back to them Feb. 13.

Friday afternoon, Bussineau handed over the keys of the home to First Response Services, a Warner Robins company specializing in mitigation and restoration work. He’s not sure if the family will ever want to return to the home, though a final decision has not been made, he said.

Tuesday before the slaying

One week before the homicide, Jordi Clements was home alone Feb. 1 when she heard a noise at the front door, according to a Warner Robins police incident report. She’d just hung up after a phone conversation with her mom. It was about 10 minutes before 5 p.m.

“She (Jordi Clements) went to the front door and saw that it was open,” the report stated. “Her dog then charged the door and the door shut.”

Jordi Clements told the police officer that she saw a tall man wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans running away from the house, according to the report. She wasn’t sure if the front door had been unlocked, and the officer observed no damage to the front door, the report stated.

A few of the neighbors said they had heard about that incident. The only other incidents neighbors could recall in the subdivision bordered by Carl Vinson Parkway, Leverett Road, South Houston Lake Road and Russell Parkway was a rash of vandalism last summer in which windows from several vehicles were busted and some rain gutters were damaged. The only other relatively recent tragedy recalled by neighbors was when a family who had lived a few of houses east of the Clements’ home was killed in a car crash about a year ago.

Joni Clements remembered

Clements, a 1982 graduate of Warner Robins High school who played in the school band, was remembered for her faith and her commitment to family and friends, according to her obituary.

She was a member of New Hope Church of God. She and Eddy Clements were married for more than 28 years. She was a nurse in Saudi Arabia and in the U.S. for more than 24 years, an active board member when her children played Arabian Little League baseball, once a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts, and had served on the board for the Nutcracker of Middle Georgia, her obituary stated. Most recently, she founded Peach State Paranormal Investigations in which Jordi Clements and Chris Mixon were also active, according to the obituary and the PSPI Facebook page.

“Joni always had a smile and a hug for everyone,” said James E. “Trey” Clements III, 22, the oldest of the two Clements children, who wrote his mom’s obituary, according to Bussineau. “Her home was always open for all.

“She had the most amazing way of calming anyone down from anything that may be bothering them,” Trey Clements continued. “She could walk up to you when you’re raging mad or just totally broken down and crying and say just the right thing to calm you down or make the pain go away.

“She always made sure everyone felt comfortable in her home,” he said. “To a lot of people, it was a home away from home.”

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.

This story was originally published February 20, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Family recalls giving spirit of slain woman."