Florida Man on Trial for Allegedly Killing Mom, Leaving Baby to Die in Hot Car

A Florida man is on trial for allegedly shooting and killing a young mother, stealing her car, and abandoning her 1-year-old daughter inside to die of heat exposure in September 2021. Doujon Griffiths, 26, faces two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Prosecutors allege that Griffiths, who had been staying with the victim, Massania Malcolm, 20, and her boyfriend, Jordane Reid, fatally shot Malcolm and wounded Reid in an apartment complex parking lot. Griffiths then allegedly fled in the car with Malcolm and their infant daughter, Jordania Reid, inside. The pair were not discovered until two days later, with the infant having died from heat exposure.

Reid, who survived multiple gunshot wounds, testified that Griffiths, his childhood friend, had been staying at their apartment for about a month. The conflict arose when Malcolm and Reid asked Griffiths to move out due to his lack of financial contribution to the household. According to warrants, the group was driving Griffiths to the bus station when the shooting began.

"He literally put the firearm right here and squeezed it," Reid testified, according to WFTV 9. "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 escape the vehicle as Griffiths continued to fire at him before driving off with Malcolm and the baby. A neighbor found Reid behind a bush with multiple gunshot wounds and called 911. While hospitalized and intubated, Reid wrote his girlfriend's name on a piece of paper, which led police to search her apartment and eventually locate the car using its GPS.

Griffiths evaded capture for more than two years, until he was apprehended during a traffic stop in New Jersey. His trial is currently underway in Orlando.