Eriberto Perez, a 58-year-old man, was fatally shot on February 1, 2018, in a violent sequence of events that spanned across two counties in Michigan. The tragic day began in Taylor, a suburb of Detroit, when a disgruntled former employee of a trucking company initiated a planned and violent rampage.
The man identified as the perpetrator was Vernest James Griffin, a resident of Sterling Heights.
Griffin had been terminated from his position at BSD Trucking in Taylor in November of the previous year. On the morning of the shootings, Griffin went to his former workplace where he shot and killed 60-year-old Keith Kitchen. Following this initial act of violence, Griffin carjacked a semi-truck from the premises and drove approximately 30 miles north to Pontiac.
In Pontiac, Griffin arrived at Aluminum Blanking Company, the workplace of Eriberto Perez. He entered the shipping and receiving area and shot Perez, who was at his desk. The attack was sudden and gave Perez no opportunity to defend himself. After the shooting in Pontiac, Griffin continued his spree, driving to another business in Waterford Township with the apparent intention of targeting a third individual, though that person was not present. His violent journey came to an end after a police chase that concluded with a shootout with Waterford police officers. Griffin was wounded and subsequently taken into custody. Investigators recovered an assault rifle from the stolen truck.
The aftermath of the deadly spree led to a complex legal process with charges filed in two different counties. In Wayne County, Vernest Griffin faced charges for the murder of Keith Kitchen, as well as carjacking and armed robbery. Following a trial, a jury found him guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and the other associated charges. For these crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Separately, in Oakland County, Griffin was tried for the murder of Eriberto Perez and other offenses committed in Pontiac and Waterford. He was convicted by a jury of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of Perez. This conviction, along with others related to the events in Oakland County, was later affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals. The investigation and subsequent court proceedings revealed that Griffin's actions were a calculated and deliberate act of violence stemming from his previous employment termination.
