In the summer of 2017, the life of 25-year-old Eric Barbin was cut short in a tragic incident in Detroit, Michigan. The young African-American man was killed on June 13, 2017, as part of a disturbing and complex murder-for-hire scheme that had its roots in jealousy and a bitter rivalry.
The investigation into Barbin's death revealed a tangled web of relationships and motives that ultimately led to the doorstep of Marcie Griffin. Griffin, the ex-girlfriend of a man who had moved on to a new relationship with a woman named Julii Johnson, was consumed by a jealous rage. This rage festered and grew, eventually leading her to orchestrate a plan to have Johnson murdered. To carry out her deadly plot, Griffin enlisted the help of two men, George Rider and Eric Gibson.
On the morning of January 13, 2017, months before Barbin's own death, Julii Johnson was found shot multiple times outside her home in Warren, Michigan. The investigation that followed was painstaking, but through the use of surveillance footage, cellphone records, and critical DNA evidence, law enforcement was able to piece together the events of that fatal day. The evidence pointed directly to Gibson as the triggerman, with Rider and Griffin playing crucial roles in the planning and execution of the murder. A murder weapon and gloves containing Eric Gibson's DNA were key pieces of evidence that solidified his involvement.
The culmination of the investigation was a trial that brought the three co-conspirators to justice. In June of 2019, after legal proceedings that included challenges such as accusations of racial bias in jury selection, Marcie Griffin, George Rider, and Eric Gibson were all found guilty of first-degree murder. For their roles in the cold-blooded killing of Julii Johnson, a crime that also led to the death of Eric Barbin, each was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
