Five years after her daughter and granddaughter were killed in Florida, Latoya Reid finally watched a jury find the man responsible guilty of their murders.
But for Reid, the Oct. 1 conviction of Doujon Griffiths brought little sense of closure. For years, the Jamaican-born mother has lived with the loss of her only child, Massania “Carla” Malcolm, and her 1-year-old granddaughter, Jordania. In an effort to hold on to that connection, she even underwent plastic surgery to make her features resemble Malcolm’s.
“It was a bittersweet moment,” Reid said after the verdict, as reported by the Jamaica Star. “I didn’t want to be in this position where I lost my only child.”
An Orange County jury convicted Griffiths on charges including first-degree murder with a firearm, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and three counts of shooting at, within or into a building. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16 and faces life in prison.
For Reid, the verdict marked the end of a courtroom battle but not the grief that began when Malcolm disappeared in September 2021.
Malcolm, 20, was found dead inside a vehicle two days after she went missing. Her daughter was also found inside the car and died from exposure to the extreme heat. Malcolm’s boyfriend, Jordane Reid, survived after being shot and later helped investigators establish what happened.
According to the case presented by authorities, Griffiths had been staying with Malcolm and Jordane after becoming homeless. Tensions grew after the couple wanted him to leave. Prosecutors said he opened fire as they were taking him toward a bus stop.
Griffiths then disappeared. Authorities eventually arrested him during a traffic stop in Linden, New Jersey, in March 2024, more than two years after the killings.
Reid said facing Griffiths in court brought back the trauma of losing her family. She described the experience as physically and emotionally overwhelming, saying she was “shaking” and felt weak while sitting near him.
She also struggled to watch Griffiths appear comfortable during the proceedings.
“We sat there and observed Doujon taking notes, giggling and smiling and sitting there like nothing happened,” Reid said.
The loss has shaped nearly every part of Reid’s life. She said she became a mother at 14 and spent years working through hardship alongside Malcolm before the two eventually moved from St. James, Jamaica, to Florida in 2016 in search of better opportunities.
Reid later became a registered nurse, while Malcolm was building a life of her own before her death.
The decision to undergo plastic surgery came from Reid’s effort to preserve that connection. She said she wanted to see something familiar when she looked in the mirror, explaining that the procedure let her catch a glimpse of her daughter.
“It was just a coping mechanism,” she said. “Every time I look into the mirror, I can have a glimpse of my child,” she explained. “I told the doctor that I wanted to look similar to her because every time I see myself, I see her as well. That was why I did that particular surgery.”
Now, with Griffiths convicted, Reid says her focus remains on the two people she lost.
“We are going to continue to keep the names of my daughter and granddaughter alive,” she said.
