On a February morning in 2018, the life of 60-year-old Keith Kitchen was tragically cut short in what authorities would later describe as a 'planned killing spree.' The male victim was at his job at BSD Trucking in Taylor, Michigan, when a former employee, Vernest James Griffin, entered the building with a semiautomatic weapon and opened fire. Kitchen was struck and killed in the attack.
Immediately following the shooting, Griffin carjacked a semi-truck from the premises by holding the
driver at gunpoint and fled the scene. His violent rampage continued to another business in Pontiac, where he shot and killed a second person, 58-year-old Eriberto Perez. Griffin then proceeded to a third business in Waterford, where he asked for someone by name before leaving. This series of events sparked a multi-county police chase.
Law enforcement officers caught up with Griffin, who then shot at them before crashing the stolen semi-truck. A shootout with police ensued, during which Griffin was wounded and finally taken into custody. At the time of the killings, Griffin was out on bond for previous assault and weapons charges. Investigators found an AK-47 and numerous rounds of ammunition in the vehicle he was driving.
Vernest Griffin was charged with first-degree murder, carjacking, armed robbery, and felony firearm for the death of Keith Kitchen. In March 2019, a jury found Griffin guilty of the premeditated first-degree murder of Kitchen. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime. Griffin also faced separate charges in Oakland County for the murder of Eriberto Perez.
