Do you know who murdered Alfred Griffin in 2017? In the late hours of a December night in Knoxville, Tennessee, a sequence of events unfolded that would tragically end the life of Alfred Lamar Griffin. On December 23, 2017, at approximately 2:30 a.m., Knoxville Police were dispatched to the scene of a car crash at 1109 McSpadden Street. A white Chrysler 300 had struck a fence, and inside, officers discovered Griffin and a woman, Stephanie Means, both with serious injuries.
Both individuals were immediately transported to the University
of Tennessee Medical Center for urgent medical care. While Means would eventually recover from her injuries, Griffin, a 37-year-old African American man, was rushed into surgery. Despite the efforts of medical staff, he succumbed to his injuries six days later on December 29, 2017. The investigation that followed would reveal that the car crash was not a mere accident but the conclusion of a violent attack.
Investigators determined that the incident began on Boyd Street at the intersection with West Baxter Avenue. It was there that an unknown vehicle approached the Chrysler 300, which Means was driving, and began firing upon them. In an attempt to flee the assault, Means drove off, ultimately crashing into a fence at the corner of Baxter and McSpadden. After the initial impact, she tried to drive away again, only to crash into another fence on McSpadden Street where the vehicle finally came to a stop. Law enforcement recovered more than a dozen shell casings from the roadway along the path of the chase.
Despite the efforts of the Knoxville Police Department and public appeals for information by organizations such as the East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers, the murder of Alfred Lamar Griffin remains unsolved. To date, no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The case continues to be an open investigation, leaving a family and community seeking answers and justice for a life cut short by violence.
