John Derrick Wright, a 51-year-old African American male from Raleigh, NC, was tragically killed on December 15, 2017. The incident occurred outside a Waffle House restaurant on Westinghouse Boulevard, off Capital Boulevard, just north of Interstate 440. Wright was shot by Jason Maurice Griffith, a 51-year-old African American male, who also shot his wife, Emma Griffith, in the face.
Emma Griffith survived the attack and was treated at WakeMed.
The shooting was not a random act but was rooted in a complex love triangle involving the Griffiths and Wright. Jason Griffith, who was described by friends as a kind and religious man, later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Carolina Biblical Gardens cemetery, off Creech Road south of Raleigh. The police linked this incident to another homicide that occurred almost a week later on December 21, 2017, where Carolyn Jeffries, a 68-year-old African American female, was found shot to death at her home on Rock Quarry Road. Shell casings found at the scene of Jeffries' murder matched those from the Waffle House shooting.
Wright had been living at the Rock Quarry Road house for several months before moving out in the fall of 2017. Neighbors reported seeing Emma Griffith at the home in recent months. Police believe that Jason Griffith may have gone to Jeffries' home on December 15 looking for his wife. The investigation into both cases is ongoing, with the Raleigh Police Department consulting with the Wake County District Attorney's Office.
