|
|
|
|
“I hope that this arrest will help myself and the Victoria community to be able to rest a little bit easier and to sleep a little bit better at night,” said Judy Boyd, a close friend and co-worker of Blackwell’s. “I believe the person that committed this horrible crime needs to be punished for what they did. And I will leave that up to the powers that be.”
Blackwell’s sister Mary Allaway said her heart raced when she heard an arrest had been made.
“I’m thankful an arrest has been made,” she said from her home in Austin. “It’s shocking. I don’t want to say a lot about it at this point. I’m not clear on my emotions right now, to tell you the truth. I didn’t suspect Jeffrey (Grimsinger).”
Grimsinger, 23, was arrested Thursday and charged with capital murder in Blackwell’s death.
Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said Thursday that an immense sense of relief is being felt throughout the entire agency in which Blackwell worked.
“I heard about it from the sheriff’s office a couple hours after the arrest was made and just felt absolute relief,” he told the Advocate. “In terms of a criminal investigation, finally coming to an arrest hasn’t taken that long. But it seemed like an extremely long time at the agency, especially considering she was so well-known and respected.
“Sally was a longtime employee with Child Protective Services and extraordinarily gifted in her field of child welfare. She was an inspiration to those she worked for and with, and even for those who worked in the agency and didn’t have the benefit of her friendship will be extremely relieved.”
Crimmins added that at the time of her death, great shock was felt throughout the agency, and most employees continued to feel that way for months.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” he said of Thursday’s arrest. “It reminds us all about what happened, but then again, it’s a relief to finally have someone to hold responsible.”
In the weeks following Blackwell’s death, Crimmins said, immediate concern was felt within the agency over whether the death was job-related.
“To a degree, we’re also relieved to find out that the case wasn’t job-related,” he said. “By nature, this is a hazardous job, with our employees constantly in contact with people who are not in the best state of mind, and at times we have to remove their children from their home, which can be dangerous. After Sally died, we immediately began to review our employee safety training, which we did find to be adequate. But it’s still nice to know that it wasn’t related at all to Sally’s job.”
While the arrest was the news of the day, Blackwell’s friend and co-worker Judy Boyd said she would rather focus on the life of her lost friend.
“Sally was a wonderful, caring, giving, godly woman,” Boyd said, “and not a day goes by that I do not think of her and miss her dearly.”
Boyd said she keeps a picture of the two of them in her living room. “My heart breaks every time a memory crosses my mind. My heart breaks.”
And there are many fond memories, Boyd said.
The two would often arrive at work early and drink coffee together. “And every single day she complimented me on something, and I know she genuinely cared about me as I did her. She was my friend but she was my big sister.”
Sometimes she and Blackwell would pray together before the workday began, she said.
Boyd said Blackwell loved celebrations, and marked the birthday of her yellow Labrador retriever, Lucy. Boyd was with Blackwell when she chose the playful puppy.
On one occasion, Blackwell planned a Christmas party for her church group at her house, only to have her stepdaughter go into labor with Blackwell’s first grandchild on the day of the party. So Blackwell let her friends have the party at her house anyway, and even made dip before she left, Boyd said.
Thursday’s arrest doesn’t ease the feeling of loss Boyd feels over the death of a close friend. “I hope that her soul is more at peace tonight than mine is,” Boyd said.