Veronica Ann Lyons Griswold, a 64-year-old Caucasian female, was known for her kind and gentle nature, which endeared her to many in the Vancleave, Mississippi community. Those who knew her described her as selfless and generous, a woman who could put anyone at ease with her soft smile. She had a passion for making pottery, drawing, and painting and was an employee of D&D Bail Bonds.
Her life, however, came to a tragic and violent end on the evening of Thursday, April 7, 2022.
On that night, authorities from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office were called to a residence in the Latimer community following a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., they heard a single gunshot. Inside the home, they discovered a horrific scene. Veronica Ann Lyons Griswold, her son Bjorn Stephen Griswold, and his ex-wife, Jillian Pavolini, had all been fatally shot.
The investigation determined that the person responsible for the triple homicide was Veronica's estranged husband, Thomas Griswold. It is believed that Thomas Griswold shot and killed his wife, their son, and his son's former wife before turning the gun on himself. The final gunshot heard by the responding deputies is thought to have been the one that ended his own life. The motive behind the tragic murder-suicide remains unclear, and the investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has left a community to mourn the devastating loss of three of its members.
