72-Year-Old Woman’s Ex-Boyfriend Begins Murder Trial For Her 2020 Death

By Andrew Michaels - September 26, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

The daughter of 72-year-old Lillian Herndon grew increasingly concerned for her mother’s well-being in April 2020 after only communicating with her over text messages—a form of communication her mother rarely, if ever, used. These text messages eventually led Herndon’s daughter to her mother’s home, where the victim’s decomposing body was found under a blanket in her bedroom closet.

Herndon’s boyfriend, 58-year-old Roderick Griffin, was arrested and charged with her murder. His jury trial began on Sept. 26 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Yvette Bryant.

During her opening statements, the prosecutor said Herndon’s body was found on April 21, 2020. Her family was unable to contact her—except through text messages—and went to the victim’s home twice. They did not have a key to the house when they first arrived but later returned and searched the home on the 5500 block of The Alameda.

This was when they found Herndon in her bedroom closet with a bandana covering her mouth, a pillowcase over her head, and her legs bound with her arms tied behind her back. Herndon’s death was by asphyxiation, the prosecutor said.

Griffin’s defense attorney, Todd Oppenheim, approached the jury with the argument that his client was overcharged by the prosecution.

“Roderick Griffin is 100 percent responsible for Miss Herndon’s death,” Oppenheim told the jury during opening statements. “He did it. Her death was dreadful. We’re not here to hide that or ignore that.”

Oppenheim explained that Herndon and Griffin were in a relationship and that by April 10, 2020, they both knew it was “done.” However, his client had nowhere to go, and an argument ensued when Griffin “took her life.”

“He snapped and choked her,” the prosecutor said earlier in the proceedings.

“This is a manslaughter case,” the defense attorney noted. “Mr. Griffin told the police everything.”

Herndon’s daughter told the jury on Monday morning that she regularly spoke with her mother multiple times a week, only once communicating via text message. On April 11, 2020, she said, she received a text message from her mother that said, “I’m stepping out with Erik for a couple of days. I’ll call you when I return. I love you.”

The victim’s daughter identified Griffin as Erik.

The witness said her mother’s response was unusual given the impending shutdown from COVID-19 and that her daughter’s repeated phone calls were only ever responded to via text message. The woman testified that she texted her mother, asking her the date of her father’s birthday—an answer she figured only her mother could answer.

The responder replied that the phone needed to be charged, she said.

The victim’s daughter later contacted the Baltimore Police Department. When the victim’s body was found, her daughter testified that she ran down the stairs and outside, told police that her mother was inside and she was dead, and then began running up and down the street.

The prosecutor informed the court during her opening statements that Herndon had a gray Honda Civic that was missing and later identified by Griffin’s cousin, who said he saw the defendant driving the car. When police responded to the area, the defendant sped away before driving the car through a wrought iron fence of a high school and onto a football field, where he was arrested.

Testimony continued Monday afternoon when the jury heard from an assistant chief medical examiner.