ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
His infant son's death brought about his capture.
Jerry Griffis, a Florida fugitive convicted in 1990 of sexually assaulting a young boy, is locked up in the Roanoke City Jail.
Griffis also is a suspect in his son's death, according to Franklin County investigators. Five-month-old Cordell Adam Griffis died Sunday after being flown to Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley from Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount.
Griffis' wife, Robin, called 911 from the family's residence in a Henry trailer park early Sunday to report that the baby wasn't breathing.
The infant later was revived at Community Hospital and placed on life support. The family decided to take the baby off life support Sunday afternoon because of the extent of his injuries.
Hospital administrators had already asked the Franklin County Sheriff's Office to investigate because the injuries appeared suspicious, said Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton.
As Griffis, 26, watched his son's last moments Sunday, hospital security officers waited to arrest him. Investigators had learned that he was wanted in Florida after tracking his name through a national computer database.
When word came of Griffis' criminal record Sunday afternoon, Investigator Bonnie Beatty was at Community Hospital. Just then, Griffis wasn't.
He had shown up at the hospital when his son arrived, but had left to go back home to Henry.
"Some of the nurses were betting that he wouldn't come back," Beatty said. But Griffis returned to the hospital a short time later.
The tale of how Griffis got to Franklin County is unusual.
He didn't show up for his trial on sexual assault charges in Gainesville, Fla., in February 1990, and he eluded authorities for six years, said Laura Kelly, a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office there.
Griffis had pleaded not guilty, she said.
A jury convicted him of four counts of sexual battery and two counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child, according to Kelly.
He faces a maximum of four life terms in prison, and will be sentenced if he's extradited to Florida, she said.
The victim in the Florida case was 6 years old in 1990.
Griffis worked for a carnival after he was convicted in Florida, Beatty said. The job led him to Henry County, where he met his wife.
They moved to Franklin County and have been living there for the past three years.
Griffis most recently was employed in Martinsville, Beatty said.
The investigation of the infant's death continues, and the results of an autopsy aren't expected for several days, she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB