LITHONIA MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING GWINNETT WOMAN AND LEAVING HER BODY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

LITHONIA MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING GWINNETT WOMAN AND LEAVING HER BODY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

State v. James Lee Griffin, Jr.

Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the case against a Lithonia man accused of murdering a Gwinnett County woman, concealing her body in a container, and leaving her on the side of the road.

On Friday, August 16, jurors found James Lee Griffin, Jr., 60, guilty on charges of Felony Murder, Malice Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Concealing the Death of Another Person stemming from the murder of Kathleen Bass, 39, on June 12, 2020.

According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD), as well as the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office responded to the intersection of Lithonia Industrial Boulevard and Hillandale Drive on July 23, 2020 in reference to possible human remains. A construction worker indicated that he was prepping the site to lay fiber cables and noticed a foul odor and an upside down blue container. The worker used the construction equipment he was operating to move the container, causing the contents to spill out. He observed what appeared to be human remains wrapped up in sheets.

After the discovery of the body appeared in the media, police received two anonymous tips linking the remains to a missing Gwinnett County woman and encouraging police to look into Defendant Griffin.

A bag of trash located next to the container with the victim's remains was taken into evidence. A pizza box was found inside with a receipt that included Defendant Griffin's name and phone number, as well as the address for an apartment on Hillandale Drive in Lithonia, just over a mile away from where the victim's body was recovered.

A search warrant executed by DKPD on the apartment revealed that the residence had been recently haphazardly vacated. In the bedroom, police observed large areas of what appeared to be blood on the carpet that someone had attempted to clean, as well as a heavy smell of bleach. Several small blood smears were found and later revealed both the victim and defendant's DNA.

A witness at trial described dropping Bass off at the apartment complex to meet with Griffin in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, a fact supported by phone records. She was not seen or heard from again. Ring security camera footage provided by a neighbor showed Defendant Griffin leaving his apartment just days later, pulling and dragging a matching large blue container out of his apartment and down the stairs.

A complete bone examination of the victim's remains conducted by the Medical Examiner's Office revealed two wedge-shaped tool marks on multiple ribs, indicating that she had been stabbed by an object such as a knife.

After vacating his apartment, Defendant Griffin moved to Arkansas and began a new job driving a truck. He was taken into custody on September 17, 2020, when he returned to the area to check in with his bonding agency on a separate criminal matter.

Immediately following the guilty verdict, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Asha F. Jackson, who presided over the trial, sentenced Defendant Griffin to life in prison, plus ten years.

The case, assigned to the Homicide and Gangs Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Scacco with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Furhawn Shah, District Attorney Investigator Antoine Winston, and Victim Advocate Christy Palmer. DKPD Det. Hoyt led the initial investigation.