Man accused of killing MoBay mother, daughter in Miami caught
WESTERN BUREAU
THE NEWS that Doujon Dwayne Griffiths, the 23-year-old man accused of the 2021 killing of 20-year-old Massania ‘Carla-Shay’ Malcolm and her baby daughter ‘Karlie,’ in Miami, Florida, has been caught and arrested by the United States (US) authorities, has brought a sense of relief to Montego Bay, the hometown of victims and accused villain.
Malcolm was reportedly shot and killed, and her one-yearold daughter left to suffocate inside a car by Griffiths, who had earlier shot and seriously injured Malcolm’s boyfriend, who is also the child’s father at their Miami home. After that shooting, he allegedly abducted the mother and child and drove away with them.
Malcolm’s mother, Latoya ‘Budiesha’ Reid, who was a popular personality on the Montego Bay social circuit before she migrated to the US, where she was later joined by her daughter, shed tears on a video posted on Instagram account two days ago, in which she confirmed that she was contacted by the US authorities, and informed of Griffiths’ arrest.
“Friends, supporters and wellwishers, today, March the 22, 2024, I am coming live to let you know that the police have incarcerated Doujon Dwayne Griffith … Doujon Dwayne Griffiths is in custody,” cried Reid, as she broke down in tears. “Me hold Doujon, me hold Doujon … justice for Karla and Karlee … Dujoun me hold you ... yeah.”
Since the killing of her daughter, Reid had been very active on social media, constantly posting wanted pictures of Griffiths and urging the public to contact the police if he was seen. In her Instagram entry, announcing Griffiths’ arrest, she posted another wanted picture of the alleged killer, but this time it has ‘Caught’ superimposed over it.
Following the killing of Malcolm and her baby, the US authorities had placed a US$15,000 bounty on Griffiths’ head, but somehow, he managed to remain on the run for the three years that have elapsed since the killing.
BELIEVED TO BE GANG-RELATED
When the new of killing broke in 2021, it jolted Montego Bay, as the accused killer and the slain mother were from the same general area in Glendevon – Malcolm from Sun Valley Road, and Griffiths from Gulf, in Norwood. It is believed that the killing was hangover gang-violence, which started in Montego Bay and spilled over in Miami. Malcolm’s boyfriend was linked to the G-City gang, which is originally from Salt Spring, also in St James.
Griffiths, who was becoming a renowned face in gangland activities in Montego Bay, reported fled Jamaica illegally in early 2021 and ended up on the streets of Miami. Out of kindness, Malcolm’s boyfriend, who knew him quite well, decided to take him into his home until he was able to ‘get on his feet’.
However, other gangsters from Montego Bay, who were also living in Miami, discovered that Griffiths, who was their old associate, was with Malcolm and her boyfriend. They reportedly encouraged Griffiths to rob and kill him Malcolm’s boyfriend, and seeing a chance for instant wealth, he agreed.
On the day of the killing, Griffiths reportedly held up Malcolm, her boyfriend, and the baby at gunpoint inside their home and demanded money. However, he was met with resistance. He reportedly opened gunfire on the boyfriend, hitting him multiple times, and thinking he was dead, abducted Malcolm and the baby, and fled in the family’s car.
It is believed, he tried to get Malcolm to tell him where her boyfriend had his ‘stash’ (a place where money was hidden), but she refused to tell him. It is believed he got angry and shot her dead inside the car. It is further believed that Griffith parked the car on the side of a busy highway, locked it up with Malcolm’s body and the baby inside, and fled.
When passers-by became curious about the unattended car along the highway, and alerted the police, the cops went to the location and found Malcolm’s body and the body of her suffocated baby inside the vehicle.
The child’s father, who had miraculously survived his multiple gunshot wounds and was hospitalised with serious injuries for several weeks, was reportedly able to provide law enforcement with the details of what transpired before he was shot and left for dead.
A Sunday Gleaner story published on September 12, 2021, under the headline, ‘Murder of mother, infant in Miami rocks Montego Bay’, quoted from an online video in which Reid poured out her grief in the aftermath of the killing of her daughter and granddaughter.
“Yuh kill me today when you kill me pickney and mi grandpickney,” wailed Reid, in the video in which she identified Griffiths, whom she also knew, as the killer.
“… mi a tell yuh di honest truth, yuh kill me today when you kill Carla-Shay and Karlie, Yuh kill me today when yuh did this to them!”
In that video, Reid said the accused killer had thought all three victims of his alleged attack had died and he would have got away with what he did. However, she suggested that her daughter’s boyfriend, who survived the attack, was able to relate what had transpired at the murder scene.
“You thought everybody was dead, but you got it wrong,” said Reid, as she called out Griffiths’ and his home address in Jamaica. “I don’t care anymore … . I just don’t care … . I am dead right now, … so you can be my next guest.”