Orlando jurors shown disturbing photos in trial of man accused of killing mother, 1-year-old girl
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
Jurors saw disturbing pictures Wednesday of the bodies of an Orange County mother and her 1-year-old daughter in the trial of the man accused of killing them.
Doujon Griffiths, now 26, is on trial for the murders of Massania Malcolm and her daughter, Jordania Reed. Their bodies were found in a parking lot off Lake Ellenor Drive in Orlando in 2021.
Investigators believe Griffiths shot Malcolm and left her body in the car with the baby, who likely died from being trapped for two days in the extreme heat inside the vehicle.
Deputy Joshua Korte testified he and other deputies were searching for the Volkswagen Jetta after Griffiths shot and wounded Malcolm’s boyfriend at a nearby apartment complex.
“We observed a silver Jetta sitting in the parking lot. It was kind of by itself, not a lot of cars parked around it,” Korte said. He couldn’t see inside because the windows were tinted, but when he opened the doors, he found the victims’ bodies.
Prosecutors played Korte’s body camera video for the jury. They also called on a crime scene investigator, Christine Marcus, who testified that she found several bullet shells inside the car and noticed that while the keys were still in the ignition, the air conditioning was not turned on.
She used a temperature probe to determine how hot the air inside the car would have become.
“The highest temperature from Probe 1 was 106 degrees, and 122 degrees from Probe 2,” Marcus told the jury.
Griffiths had been staying at the home of Malcolm and her boyfriend, but investigators say the arrangement had grown tense because the couple felt Griffiths was not contributing to the household. He allegedly shot them as they were driving him to a bus station to leave town.
Prosecutors are not planning to seek the death penalty against Griffiths.