On August 19, 2019, the body of 29-year-old African American male Elliott Herring was discovered on the side of the road in Kansas City, Missouri. Authorities were initially called to the scene near the southbound exit ramp of U.S. Highway 71 at Red Bridge Road around 12:30 a.m. following reports of a pedestrian accident. Upon arrival, first responders found Herring deceased near a silver Mitsubishi Galant.
While the incident was first reported as a potential hit-and-run or traffic accident, investigators quickly determined that the circumstances were suspicious. Herring had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the back of the head, prompting the reclassification of the case as a homicide.
For nearly two years, the investigation into Herring’s death continued until charges were filed in August 2021. Prosecutors alleged that Herring, known to his friends and family as a kind-hearted individual who had attended Hogan Preparatory Academy and Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, had stopped his vehicle to assist a stranded motorist. According to court records, the suspect, Douglas V. Griffin, had been driving the Mitsubishi Galant found at the scene when it broke down on the off-ramp. Herring pulled over in his own vehicle, a Chrysler Sebring, and offered to help get the stalled car running.
Griffin, who was 27 at the time of the charges, gave conflicting accounts to detectives. In one version of events detailed in court documents, Griffin claimed that an unidentified associate was with him when the car broke down and that this associate was the one who shot Herring after the victim refused to give them a ride. Griffin told police that after the shooting, he and the associate stole Herring’s Chrysler Sebring, leaving the victim and the broken-down Mitsubishi behind. The stolen vehicle was later recovered abandoned just blocks from Griffin's residence. Griffin had initially told police the Mitsubishi had been stolen from him prior to the incident and claimed he was asleep at home when the body was found.
In August 2021, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Douglas V. Griffin with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Herring's death. At the time these new charges were announced, Griffin was already in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center facing separate charges for another homicide. He had been accused of the November 2019 shooting death of David Como, who was killed while walking home from a bus stop in Kansas City, an incident that occurred roughly three months after Herring was killed.
