In the sterile quiet of a hospital room, a tragedy unfolded that left a community in shock and mourning. Lola T. 'Tammy' Griffith, a 27-year-old woman, was found deceased in what Mesa, Arizona police have described as an apparent murder-suicide. The grim discovery was made by staff at Cardon Children's Medical Center during a routine check in the early morning hours of Saturday, November 7, 2015.
Beside her lay the body of her 5-year-old son, Helious.
Lola had been staying with her son at the hospital, where he had been a patient for about a week. Concerns for the boy's welfare had recently prompted involvement from the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Just two days before the incident, DCS investigators had been in contact with Lola and other family members regarding Helious's care. The agency had communicated its intent to file for an 'In-Home Dependency,' which would have allowed Helious to remain in his mother's physical custody under court supervision upon his release from the hospital.
Hospital staff had checked on the mother and son around midnight and reported that everything appeared normal. However, a subsequent check two hours later revealed the tragic scene. Investigators determined that Lola died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No one at the hospital reported hearing a gunshot, raising questions about how the firearm was brought into the facility, which had a no-firearms policy in place.
Further investigation revealed that a piece of medical tubing was found wrapped around Helious's neck. While authorities did not immediately release the official cause of his death, the circumstances strongly suggested a heartbreaking sequence of events initiated by his mother. The incident was investigated as a murder-suicide, with Lola Griffith being the sole suspect in her son's death. The case highlighted a devastating intersection of family struggles and involvement with child protective services, culminating in a loss that resonated deeply within the Mesa community.
