Doujon Griffiths, 26, is on trial in Orlando for the 2021 killings of a young mother and her baby daughter after more than two years as a fugitive.
The defendant faces two murder counts and one attempted murder charge stemming from a September 7, 2021, shooting that left Massania Malcolm, 20, dead, her boyfriend Jordane Reid wounded, and the couple’s 1-year-old daughter Jordania Reid abandoned to die in a locked car.
Griffiths had been staying with Malcolm and Reid for about a month before the young couple asked him to leave because he was not contributing to household expenses, according to warrants.
The trio had gotten into the vehicle that morning to drive Griffiths to a bus stop when the violence erupted in the apartment complex parking lot. Reid, who survived multiple gunshot wounds, took the stand to describe the attack.
“I was in panic. I was getting shot at the same time. I was just trying to escape, that’s it,” Reid testified.
Reid and Griffiths had known each other since childhood, a relationship that made the betrayal all the more stark. In court, Reid demonstrated how the defendant pressed the weapon against him.
“He literally put the firearm right here and squeezed it,” Reid testified. “I turned around like this, and that’s when he stopped. I wasn’t trying to wrestle it, but I was trying to feel it and stop him.”
Reid managed to flee the vehicle as Griffiths pursued him, continuing to fire. The gunman then got behind the wheel and drove off with Malcolm and the baby still inside.
A neighbor discovered Reid collapsed behind a bush, barely conscious and struggling to speak. The neighbor called 911, and Reid was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery.
Griffiths killed Malcolm and left her body in the car with Jordania still strapped in her seat. The pair were not discovered until two days later, according to documents.
Reid, intubated and unable to speak, wrote his girlfriend’s name on a piece of paper on September 9. That note prompted police to search Malcolm’s apartment. Investigators eventually located the vehicle using its GPS system, leading them to the horrific scene inside.
Griffiths vanished after the killings and remained at large for more than two years. Police finally apprehended him during a routine traffic stop in New Jersey.
The case has drawn renewed attention as Griffiths faces a Florida jury more than three years after the crimes. Reid’s testimony marks a crucial moment in the prosecution’s effort to secure convictions for the deaths of Malcolm and her daughter.
The trial continues in Orlando.