6-year-old found dead in Mansfield, father charged with murder
7/24/09
MANSFIELD - A father who said he was commanded by God allegedly broke into his estranged ex-girlfriend's home early today and slashed their 6-year-old daughter to death with a filet knife.
The body of preschooler Kaitlynn Griffin was found with her throat cut shortly after 4 a.m. in the basement of the home she shared with her mother at 93 Chilson Ave.
The girl's father, Kristopher Griffin, 35, who has a history of mental illness, was charged with the murder and home invasion. He pleaded innocent in Taunton District Court.
Poliec said he told officers that God told him to kill the child.
"Yes, she's gone," a prosecutor said Griffin told police. "I had to save her. I killed my little girl." Griffin stood silently, wearing a hospital johnny, and bowed his head while the innocent plea was entered on his behalf. At some points during the arraignment he grimaced as if he were in physical pain.
Judge John Canavan ordered Griffin held without bail and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for evaluation prior to his next scheduled appearance Aug. 12 in Attleboro District Court.
Police Chief Arthur O'Neill said Griffin told detectives he jimmied open a screen in a side door of his girlfriend's home, apparently as both she and the child slept.
Other children of "varying ages" also stayed at the home, O'Neill said, but only the girl and her mother were home at the time. The other youngsters, O'Neill said, have "been accounted for" and are safe.
Griffin previously lived at the Chilson Avenue address but had been estranged from the little girl and her mother for about two weeks, Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Brackett said.
He had recently been staying in a camper owned by friends at 85 Ware St.
Mansfield police initially received a 911 call about 4 a.m. from a resident of the Ware Street address reporting that Griffin had left a note indicating he might harm himself.
Officer Joshua Ellender drove to the address, took a report, and asked Mansfield patrol units to be on the lookout for Griffin.
Shortly thereafter, Ellender located Griffin about a half-mile from 85 Ware Street and began talking to him. Griffin was not wearing shoes and claimed he was walking to CVS to obtain medication.
About 15 minutes after making the initial call, the residents of 85 Ware St. again called 911, reporting a second note allegedly left by Griffin asking "forgiveness for sending Katie to heaven." Griffin was asked whether he had harmed the child, and allegedly he said: "She's gone."
While being questioned by police, he allegedly made suicidal comments, asked police to shoot him and banged his head repeatedly on the roof of the police cruiser.
Griffin had traces of blood on his hands and clothing, according to prosecutors.
At the same time police were dispatched to 93 Chilson Ave., and after a short search located Kaitlynn's body covered by a blanket in the basement.
Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Brackett said during the arraignment that Griffin has been hospitalized at least twice in the past.
He most recently was hospitalized at Sturdy Memorial Hospital about two weeks ago, when he broke up with his girlfriend, Deborah Mons. Mons is Kaitlynn's mother according to a 2003 Sun Chronicle birth announcement.
Griffin was hospitalized after Kaitlynn's mother said she planned to move down South with her two children, including a boy, prosecutors said. O'Neill said the second child was not Griffin's.
Brackett said Griffin was previously subject to a lengthy hospitalization, beginning in October 2006. She did not say where that hospitalization occurred or anything else about its circumstances.
Meanwhile, the yellow two-family home on Chilson, which is across the street from a Lance Buick and Pontiac dealership, is roped off with crime scene tape and investigators were still going in and out of the house late this afternoon.
A person identified as a friend of the family who was seen talking to investigators became emotional when asked by a reporter if she knew the victim.
She broke into tears and said there would be no comment from the family.
Helena Medeiros, a neighbor who lives a few doors down from 93 Chilson Ave., said the family had lived in the home for about five years.
She was unaware of what happened, and when told of the incident, said: "That's awful, and it happened right next door to me."
Medeiros, who walks her dog past the house every day, said she never saw the little girl outside.
Regarding Griffin, Medeiros said she "never even knew the guy or saw him," but sometimes could see a woman sitting at a computer through the home's window when passing by.
A woman and her children, who live a street over and were traveling down Chilson Avenue this morning stopped to ask a reporter what happened.
They were shocked at the revelation. The woman's son said he knew Griffin's son, but did not know Kaitlynn.
"It's very sad. It's horrible," the woman said. "We'll pray."
At 85 Ware Street, a quiet neighborhood behind the Jordan-Jackson Elementary School complex, there were several cars parked at the home and a police cruiser was in the driveway, but no one answered the door.
The investigation into the child's death by Mansfield police, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office and investigators in the Bristol County Crime Prevention and Control unit is continuing.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/07/24/news/5366719.txtKristopher Griffin during his arraignment in Taunton for the murder of his daughter in Mansfield early Friday morning. Above he looks at his attorney Joseph Krowski.Griffin stood
