On January 15, 2021, 20-year-old Anaja Janae Griffin-McNeal, a Black woman from Houston, was tragically shot and killed at a travel center in Quanah, Texas. She was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head inside a car in the parking lot. The incident occurred around 9:00 a.m. at the Love’s Travel Stop on Highway 287.
The suspect, 24-year-old Armond Jordan Smith, also from Houston, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the same car.
Smith was airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock and admitted to paramedics that he had shot Griffin-McNeal. He was later charged with murder.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Griffin-McNeal and Smith had been traveling together and had run out of money in Quanah. Testimony during Smith's trial indicated that their relationship was sometimes tumultuous. Smith was found guilty of murder on October 13, 2022, and received a 75-year prison sentence.
The case was investigated by the Texas Rangers, who have not released a possible motive for the shooting. The tragic loss of Anaja Janae Griffin-McNeal has been described by her family and friends as a loving and caring woman who had a passion for helping others.
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