On the morning of Saturday, February 24, 2024, the life of 35-year-old Black female, Natisha “Tink” Phillips, was tragically cut short in a violent encounter at an east Wichita motel. Police were called to the Blue Way Inn & Suites in the 7300 block of East Kellogg shortly before 9:30 a.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered a grim scene within one of the motel rooms.
Inside, officers found Natisha Phillips and a man, identified as 35-year-old
Christopher Harrell, both suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Phillips was pronounced deceased at the scene, her life taken in an instant. Harrell was rushed by emergency services to a local hospital, but he too succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. The incident, which marked the city's 12th homicide of the year, left the community shaken. Miraculously, a young 2-year-old boy was also found in the room, physically unharmed amidst the violence. Police ensured the child received necessary medical and psychological support in the aftermath of the traumatic event.
The investigation into the double homicide moved swiftly, and authorities quickly apprehended a suspect. Twenty-year-old John Aurthur Griffin III, a Wichita resident with a prior felony conviction, was arrested in connection with the killings. The Sedgwick County District Attorney's office formally charged Griffin with a litany of serious offenses, including capital murder, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and aggravated endangering a child. Following his arrest, Griffin made his first court appearance and is being held on a six-million-dollar bond. The motive behind the shooting and the specific relationship between Griffin and the victims have not been publicly detailed as the case proceeds through the legal system.
