(somber music) - [Female Voiceover] Wednesday, March 13, 2019 10:29 and 25 seconds. (dial tone ringing) - [Dispatcher] 911, emergency? - [Keyona] Hi, I need help. - [Dispatcher] Hello? - [Keyona] I need help. - [Dispatcher] Okay, where are you located? - [Keyona] 553 Sheldon Avenue. - [Dispatcher] I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't hear you. - [Keyona] I know. - [Dispatcher] Are you able to tell me where you're located? - [Keyona] No, no. - [Dispatcher] Are you at a-- - [Keyona] 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast. Please hurry now. - [Dispatcher] Okay, I got Sheldon. What's the number? - [Keyona] 553, hurry, please hurry. - [Dispatcher] 553, Sheldon. Okay, can you tell me what's going on there? - [Keyona] Can you just hurry up please, I'm gonna die. He is trying to kill me. He's already killed my auntie. You need to hurry, please. (dramatic percussive music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] Keyona Griffin had turned 25 years old just five days before her 911 call. She was born on March 8th, 1994 and lived at her grandmother's home at 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast. Living with her was her grandmother, Jacqueline, Aunt Cherletta and Cherletta's boyfriend, who they all referred to as Jay. Keyona was described by friends and family as a charismatic, fiercely loyal and attractive young lady with many suitors. Like many young women of the modern generation, she enjoyed posting selfies on social media. Keyona had worked in the medical industry previously and had a zest for life, but one thing she didn't like was her aunt's boyfriend, Jay. In fact, she could not stand the sight of him to the extent that she even considered moving out of the house. Keyona was not alone, as most family members reportedly were not fans of Jay. Initially, he gave no reason to suspect he was dangerous, but he was chronically unemployed and fully supported by Cherletta. He never spoke of his family and didn't own a cellphone. In addition, they knew that he was once imprisoned for failing to pay a child support obligation, but they tolerated him as he was Cherletta first serious boyfriend. She loved him and they wanted to see her happy. 47 year old Cherletta's family described her as a loving, trusting and nurturing woman who was socially introverted. She graduated from Central High School and worked at Eardmons Publishing. According to her mother, Cherletta was actively planning on taking classes to advance her career. Despite her desire, she had never married or had children. Her favorite thing to do was visit the local library with her mother. On one rare occasion, she went alone and that's when she ended up meeting Jay. He and Cherletta entered into a serious relationship and they lived together for two years. They were mostly isolated, spending time alone in their shared bedroom. Overall, the family was under the impression that they genuinely cared for each other. It was a cold 39 degrees with light rain and a gentle breeze on the morning of March 13th, 2019. Grandmother Jacqueline, who owned the home at 553 Sheldon, headed out to work at 8:00 am, but unfortunately in the ordinarily quiet house, something wretched was transpiring. - [Female Voiceover] Wednesday, March 13th, 2019, 10:29 and 25 seconds. (dial tone ringing) - [Dispatcher] 911, emergency. - [Keyona] Hi, I need help. - [Dispatcher] Hello? - [Keyona] I need help. - [Dispatcher] Okay, where are you located? - [Keyona] 553 Sheldon Avenue. - [Dispatcher] I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't hear you. - [Keyona] I know. - [Dispatcher] Are you able to tell me where you're located? - [Keyona] No, no. - [Dispatcher] Are you at a-- - [Keyona] 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast. Please hurry now. - [Dispatcher] Okay, I got Sheldon. What's the number? - [Keyona] 553, hurry, please hurry. - [Dispatcher] 553 Sheldon. Okay, can you tell me what's going on there? - [Keyona] Can you just hurry up, please. I'm gonna die, he's trying to kill me. He already killed my auntie. You need to hurry up, please. - [Dispatcher] Okay, ma'am, I'll start the police that way. Can you tell me what your name is? - [Keyona] Keyona. - [Dispatcher] Who's the person who's causing trouble there? - [Keyona] Please hurry up, he's about to kill me. Please hurry up. - [Dispatcher] Okay, I've got a call entered, so we're gonna get the police started that way, all right? - [Keyona] Okay, thank you. - [Dispatcher] Can you tell me what room of the house you're in? - [Narrator] Three Grand Rapids police officers arrived at 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast precisely seven minutes and 41 seconds after the 911 call. They stayed for three minutes and 42 seconds before leaving. They knocked on the door, walked to the rear of the house, peered through windows and attempted to contact Keyona on her cellphone, but could not make contact with anyone. Ultimately, they returned to the station. Two hours and 18 minutes later, 911 dispatchers received a second call from the same residence. (dial tone ringing) (distant yelling) - [Man] Keyona! Keyona! Keyona! (dial tone ringing) - [Dispatcher] 911, emergency. - [Caller] Come to 553 Sheldon, my sister's not moving. - [Dispatcher] What's the address? - [Caller] 553 Sheldon, there's blood everywhere. My sister is not moving. - [Dispatcher] Okay, stay on the line. You said, Sher? - [Caller] 553 Sheldon. - Sheldon. - [Caller] Southeast, its a yellow house. Please hurry up. - [Dispatcher] 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast, correct? - [Caller] Yes, please. - [Dispatcher] And you said she's not breathing? - [Caller] I don't know, I know she's not moving. I'm holding her head, please. - [Dispatcher] Okay, alrighty, stay on the line with me. I do have fire and police on the way. Stay on the line with me, we're gonna connect over to medical, okay? - [Caller] Hurry up please. Please. (phone dialing) - [Dispatcher] And you said that there's blood everywhere? - [Caller] There's blood everywhere. - [Dispatcher] Did she cut herself or try to commit suicide? - [Caller] I don't know. She's gonna die 'cause she's (indistinct). - [Dispatcher] Grand Rapids here. I preloaded already for 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast. - [Dispatcher 2] 553 Sheldon Southeast? - [Dispatcher] Yes, preloaded already for a female there not breathing. Caller says she sees a lot of blood. - [Dispatcher 2] All right, caller? - [Caller] Come on, please. - [Dispatcher 2] Ma'am? - [Caller] Oh my lord. - [Dispatcher 2] Ma'am, I have help on the way. I have a few questions. Tell me exactly what happened. (caller speaking indistinctly) - [Caller] Oh my God. - [Dispatcher 2] Ma'am, I need to know what's going on there, tell me what's going on. - [Caller] I'm not a ma'am, I'm her brother. I don't know, she's naked. I usually stop over here before I go to work to my granny house and her friend was over here outside and came in and I didn't even come upstairs. Her friend did and she here naked, blood everywhere, please. - [Dispatcher] Okay. - Keyona! - [Dispatcher 2] All right, ma'am, how old is she? - [Caller] She's 24, she's born in '94. - Okay. - 3/8/94, she's about 25. She's not moving. Keyona! - [Dispatcher 2] Ma'am, they're on the way. I need to ask you if she's breathing? Ma'am, is she breathing? - [Caller] I'm not a ma'am, no, I'm her brother. I don't know, I'm not a doctor. Please come out. - [Dispatcher 2] They're on their way there. I need to know if she's breathing. - [Caller] It looks like her arm is broke. Keyona! (dispatcher talking indistinctly) - [Dispatcher 2] I'm sorry, what was that? - [Dispatcher] I need him to stay on. - [Dispatcher 2] Okay. Where is she bleeding from? - [Caller] I don't know, it just... - [Female Friend] It looks like somebody stabbed her, right here. - [Caller] Yeah, somebody stabbed her or something. - [Dispatcher 2] She's been stabbed? - [Caller] Yes, there's blood everywhere and my little sister's naked. Please come on. - [Dispatcher 2] Okay, sir, they're on the way, okay? - [Caller] All right. - Is she breathing? - [Caller] No, I don't know. I don't know how to tell, she's not moving. I'm yelling at her, she's not moving. - [Dispatcher 2] Okay. - [Caller] Please. Keyona! - [Dispatcher 2] All right, they're on the way there. I need you to tell me now every time she takes a breath in. I need to know if she's breathing. - [Caller] I'm not, she's not moving. It's like, there's blood everywhere. It's like she's been bleeding for a long time. - [Dispatcher 2] Okay. All right, we're gonna stage on this one as well. - [Caller] Please, come on. - [Narrator] Seven minutes after the second 911 call, Grand Rapids police officers return to the house. This time, they encountered a bloody crime scene. They found Keyona's aunt, Cherletta lying on her bed under a blanket. She had been shot in the back of the head as she watched a video on a tablet. She was found with earbuds still in her ears. Officers discovered a second body in an upstairs bedroom. The victim was a nude female who had been shot four times. She was identified as Keyona Griffin. Detectives were called to the scene and in turn, they contacted the crime scene unit for processing. Two of the home's four occupants were viciously murdered. A third occupant, Jacqueline, had been at work since 8:00 am, leaving one resident unaccounted for, Cherletta's boyfriend, Jay. While searching the house, detectives discovered an orange shoebox in Cherletta's closet, hidden at the very top. In the box were several letters between Cherletta and Jay while he was in prison. In one of the letters, he disclosed that although he goes by Jay, his actual name is Derrell Brown. Detectives were able to pull up Brown's criminal record and mugshot and confirmed that he and Jay were one in the same. Next, while searching a nearby alley, detectives also located a white plastic bag that contained a firearm. Next to it was a box of bullets. Tests positively link the firearm to casings found at the crime scene. The gun was manufactured by Hi-Point Firearms. Detective searching Cherletta's bedroom found an empty Hi-Point gun box in a dresser used by Brown. They traced the serial number inside the box and found the name of the gun's buyer. It was a woman who had reported the gun stolen two years earlier. The police combed through stolen firearm records and learned that she had also filed a complaint in 2018 about receiving harassing text messages. According to the complaint, she named the alleged harasser as Jay. It turns out that the woman had been romantically involved with Derrell Brown around the time her gun was reported stolen. Detectives now had enough information to connect the murder weapon to Brown. A BOLO was initiated and Brown became the primary suspect. Derrell Brown would prove to be a difficult man to track. According to police, he had long existed outside of conventional society, virtually untraceable through any means of commerce or communication that could be tied to one's identity. In the past, he's used the aliases JJ Robinson, Michael Richardson and Marcus Wright. What is known of Brown is that he has a criminal history in Ottawa and Kent counties, including violent crimes. Court documents outline a domestic assault of his then live-in girlfriend in 2005. The documents say that he brutally beat her, tied her with cords, kicked her in the face, gagged her, urinated on her, and soaked her with lighter fluid. This was done as her four children, one of whom is also his child, were sleeping in the house. She escaped the following morning by boarding her daughter's school bus and asking the driver to take off. According to court documents, the victim filed a report with the Grand Rapids Police Department but refused to proceed with the charges. She felt Brown needed help and was convinced he wouldn't get the assistance he needed in prison. Despite this, a judge ruled there was enough evidence to send the felony kidnapping case to trial. The trial resulted in a guilty plea, however, Brown was convicted of a lesser misdemeanor domestic violence charge due to no cooperating witness. At one point in 2017, the Reverend Robert Dean of Dean's New Life Church of God and Christ came across a man who was dumpster diving. The man's appearance was unkempt and disheveled. The reverend asked the man what he was doing and he replied he was homeless and needed a place to stay. That man was Derrell Brown. Reverend Dean offered him temporary shelter at the church. Brown accepted and according to Reverend Dean, he was always willing to help with tasks such as shoveling snow or cutting grass. He considered Brown to be mild-mannered and did not show any signs of aggression. That is until one day a parishioner approached him and said she was dating Brown. She claimed that Brown forbade her to talk to men, which was required by her work. When confronted by the reverend and woman, Brown made a gesture as if to slap her. As a result, he was asked to leave the church at once. Meanwhile, police continued searching for any information that could help locate him. Based on interviews, they determined he lived off the grid before the murders. He lacked the social media presence and verifiable employment, a traceable cellphone or financial resources. Because of this, they suspect he's currently being helped by his family members. In the days after the murder, police canvased the area for surveillance cameras. They found footage of Brown's path of travel. Two hours after the bodies were discovered, he was seen on camera about one mile away from the crime scene. In one clip, he visited the Grand Rapids Children's Museum where internal cameras showed him entering the building at 3:24 pm. He departed 12 minutes later after the front desk staff refused his request to wander the museum. He claimed he knew someone there. Police later learned that an ex-girlfriend dropped him off in a different part of the city. Three and a half years later, Derrell Brown has not been seen or heard from since. The Kent County prosecutor, Chris Becker said, "The unusual part about it is how he's been able to just completely disappear. Usually we have something and the police are very good at tracking suspects down, especially in homicide cases, especially in double homicide cases." Four months after the murders, the US Marshals added Brown to their 15 most wanted fugitives list. He is considered armed and dangerous. According to the Marshal's press release, Brown is believed to have fled Grand Rapids and the state of Michigan altogether. He has relatives in Arizona, Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin, and authorities suspect they are helping Brown avoid arrest. A reward of $25,000 is offered for information that directly leads to his arrest. The Baber-Bey family was upset as the lack of action on the original visit to the house resulted in a two and a half hour head start for Brown. Relatives say the police did not do enough to help. They felt dispatchers failed to pick up on Keyona's desperation when calling for help. Audio from the dispatcher relaying information to police states, "Suspicious condition. We have a female whispering on the line that somebody is trying to assault her." Relatives took issue with this characterization, claiming the dispatcher downplayed the urgency by saying assault when Keyona said someone was trying to kill her. When the local news station, WOOD-TV asked for audio of the 911 calls, police denied the request, instead providing transcripts of the call with missing information. After the denial, WOOD-TV filed an appeal before the city commission. The commission sided with the police. Consequently, WOOD-TV created a FOIA request, Freedom of Information Act, for audio and video recordings. One year later, they received the 911 calls and body cam footage from the three officers who responded initially. The officers were on the scene for three minutes and 42 seconds and the three body cam clips will play here consecutively. - [Officer 1] Do they have an apartment number? Guessing it's not that one. 18-70, can you try and call back? - [Dispatcher] 10 four. (knocker squeaking) 16-23, 26, caller is back in the line. - [Officer 1] Try the side door. - The one over there. (officer speaking indistinctly) - [Officer 1] 10 four, I'm not getting any answer at the front door. - That's a very happy-looking dog. Go make friends with it. - [Officer 1] That looks, that thing looks big. - It is. - [Officer 1] 18-70, can you run license plate? It seems like it's empty? - You can see it, it looks like a little dining room or something in there that's empty. - This just goes around. There's nothing at the back here. - [Officer 2] This call looked interesting. - They say you wanted to join the fun? - [Officer 2] They're trying to kill her. It sounds like she could be 96 too, you know? (knocking on door) (distant dogs barking) - [Officer 1] 18-70, can you try to call back? (door knocker squeaking) - Can you run license plate? Does it look like it's empty? - You can see it, it looks like a little dining room or something in there that's empty. - This just goes around. There's nothing at the back here. Looks like there's a fence on the other side. - I heard Russ put in for that background. - So did I. - Spot. Just two people? - Yep. - [Officer 2] Who was the other person? - Katie. She's working central right now, right? - [Officer 3] They say you wanted to join the fun? - [Officer 1] Did they have an apartment number on there? - [Officer 3] I thought I saw it. - 18-70, can you try to call back? - [Dispatcher] 10 four. 16, 23, 26, caller's back on the line. - [Dispatcher 2] Okay, nevermind then. - Let's go try this other door. - [Officer 3] The one over there. Yeah, let's go see what's going on. - [Officer 1] 10 four. - [Officer 3] That's a very happy-looking dog. Go make friends with it. (officer speaking indistinctly) - [Officer 3] It is. (officers speaking indistinctly) - [Officer 3] This just goes around. There's nothing in the back here. Looks like there's a fence on the other side, but. - [Narrator] Family members took exception to the officer's pace in approaching the house. Also, they claimed the officers made several facetious comments such as, "They're trying to kill her," and "She could be 96 too, you know?" 10-96 is police code for a person with mental health issues. The family views the comments as indicative of the officer's overall attitude and lack of urgency. They said the suggestion of mental health by one officer had no basis. In fact, they feel officers could've broken down the door, walked around the entire house and searched the area for Brown. Instead, three hours after the first 911 call, two family members were removed in body bags. Grand Rapids Police Sergeant John Witkowski initially stated the officers did not believe they had enough reasonable suspicion or probable cause to enter the residence based on the 911 call alone. He said police regularly respond to unfounded emergency calls. If they didn't follow the law, we'd be kicking down doors all the time. One year later, Michigan Live asked Sergeant Witkowski if knowing what they know now, police would've broken into the house after the first call? He replied, "With hindsight being 2020, yes, the officers and dispatchers are absolutely beating themselves up over this." On March 4th, 2022, WOOD-TV obtained a heavily redacted Grand Rapids Police Department Internal Affairs report through the Freedom of Information Act. The report concluded that the staff member who took Keyona's 911 call did not hear her say, "He already killed my auntie." As a result, the report claims, the officers who responded to that call were under the misimpression that the caller said someone was trying to kill her, not that a murder had already occurred. Nevertheless, the victim's family still believes the Grand Rapids Police Department failed their loved ones. Keyona's mother, Onyah, stated, "They told us it was a welfare check. Okay, but then you don't verify that the person's welfare is okay? You just leave? I just don't understand." The Baber-Bey family is in the process of seeking legal assistance to determine what their options are for filing a lawsuit against the city. On July 11th, 2020 at 9:02 am, neighbors called 911 to report a house on fire. When firefighters arrived, they discovered a blaze raging out of control at 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast. They noticed no one was standing outside, but cars were in the driveway. During a search of the house, the lifeless bodies of 65 year old Jacqueline Baber-Bey and her five year old great-grandson, Emareyon Cummings were discovered. It was determined the fire was caused by candles lit for a vigil held the night before in honor of Cherletta Baber-Bey and Keyona Griffin. Despite Derrell Brown's status as a fugitive from justice, his negative impact on the Baber-Bey family was still felt. As of the date of this upload, it has been more than three and a half years since the Grand Rapids double homicide and Derrell Brown has eluded justice. Police ask anyone with information on Brown's whereabouts to contact the Grand Rapids Police Department at (616) 456-3400 or the US Marshals Service Communication Center at 877-926-8332. What are your thoughts on this case? Could the Grand Rapids Police Department have done more to ensure the safety of the occupants at 553 Sheldon Avenue Southeast? Where should the line be drawn when balancing personal privacy with public safety? Will the Baber-Bey family get the justice they deserve? As usual, feel free to comment below. (upbeat music) (percussive music)