DaJuan Griffin was a 37-year-old man from Memphis, Tennessee, known to loved ones as “Earl,” a nickname that followed him through a life rooted in family and neighborhood pride. Born October 31, 1985, he was remembered as bright and energetic, the kind of person who liked to remind folks he’d been chosen for a school Knowledge Bowl because he was so smart.
In the years that followed, he built a home life defined by devotion—described by his family as the kind of husband and father who carried people through hard moments, always ready to help, always leaving a smile behind. On June 11, 2022, his life ended, and the people who loved him were left with the kind of silence that doesn’t make sense at first, and never feels fair.
Late that Saturday night, Memphis police were called to a shooting on Silver Street. Officers arrived to find two people suffering from gunshot wounds; both were transported to Regional One Health, where one of the victims was pronounced dead and the other was listed in critical condition. Later accounts identified Griffin as the person who didn’t make it out alive.
The moments leading up to the gunfire were described as ordinary in a way that makes what followed feel even more brutal. Griffin was outside, talking with a group, when someone opened fire into the gathering. The shooter was described as unknown, and the attack as sudden—one of those flashes of violence that leaves people scrambling for cover and answers at the same time. When it was over, Griffin was gone, and another victim was left fighting to survive.
His death came amid a string of separate shootings in Memphis over the same stretch of night—police responding from one address to the next as the hours slipped toward morning. In that span, officers were also dispatched to South Lauderdale Street and to Jackson Avenue, where additional victims were found shot, including another person who was pronounced dead at the scene. The city woke up to the tally, but for Griffin’s family, the numbers didn’t matter as much as the one empty place at the center of their world.
In the immediate aftermath, police described the incidents as ongoing investigations and urged anyone with information to come forward through Crime Stoppers. Public reports from that weekend did not describe a suspect or announce an arrest in Griffin’s killing, leaving the story suspended in the place that hurts the most—between what happened and who is responsible. As his family prepared to say goodbye, they spoke of a man who loved fiercely and showed up for people, the kind of presence that doesn’t fade just because the world moved on to the next headline.
