In the early hours of August 23, 2023, police in Columbus, Mississippi, responded to a disturbance call from an apartment in the 200 block of 11th Avenue South. It was approximately 12:20 a.m., and while on the line with the 911 caller, dispatchers heard the sound of gunshots. When officers arrived at the residence, they discovered 26-year-old Jarion Griffin inside with a fatal gunshot wound. Mr. Griffin, a Black male, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lowndes County coroner.
His body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.
Jarion Trentel Griffin was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on June 9, 1997, to his parents, Gary Griffin Jr. and Lyneshia Wagner. A graduate of Columbus High School, he pursued higher education at Itawamba Community College, Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Alabama A&M. He had been employed in the packaging department at FedEx and had also worked for Polaris and Toyota. His death was mourned by his parents, his siblings Arielle Stallings, Jonathan Stallings, Erin Jordan, and Kristen Cambre, and the wider community.
The investigation into Jarion’s death quickly focused on a person of interest, 19-year-old Traylen Colvin. The Columbus Police Department publicly identified Colvin and sought the community's help in locating him. Later that same day, Colvin turned himself in to law enforcement. He was arrested and subsequently charged with murder in connection with Jarion's shooting.
The case moved forward nearly a year later. In August 2024, a Lowndes County grand jury returned an indictment against Traylen Colvin, formally charging him with first-degree murder for the killing of Jarion Griffin. As of that month, a trial date had not yet been set.
