Lithonia man sentenced to life for murdering Gwinnett County woman, dumping remains at a construction site

DEKALB COUNTY, GA– James Lee Griffin, Jr., 60, of Lithonia, has been sentenced to life plus 10 years for the murder of a Gwinnett County woman.

Jurors found Griffin guilty of Felony Murder, Malice Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Concealing the Death of Another Person in the murder of Kathleen Bass, 39, on June 12, 2020, the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office stated.

According to the investigation, Bass’ body was discovered over a month after she went missing. Officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the intersection of Lithonia Industrial Boulevard and Hillandale Drive on July 23, 2020 in reference to possible human remains. A construction worker said that he was prepping the site to lay fiber cables and noticed an upside down blue container. The worker used the construction equipment he was operating to move the container, causing the contents to spill out. He observed what appeared to be human remains wrapped up in sheets.

After the discovery of the body appeared in the media, police received two anonymous tips linking the remains to a missing Gwinnett County woman.

A bag of trash located next to the container with the victim’s remains was taken into evidence. A pizza box was found inside with a receipt that included Defendant Griffin’s name and phone number, as well as the address for an apartment on Hillandale Drive in Lithonia, just over a mile away from where the victim’s body was recovered.

A search warrant executed by DKPD on the apartment revealed that the residence had been recently haphazardly vacated. In the bedroom, police observed large areas of what appeared to be blood on the carpet that someone had attempted to clean, as well as a heavy smell of bleach. Several small blood smears were found and later revealed both the victim and defendant’s DNA. 

A witness at trial described dropping Bass off at the apartment complex to meet with Griffin in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, a fact supported by phone records. She was not seen or heard from again. Ring security camera footage provided by a neighbor showed Defendant Griffin leaving his apartment just days later, pulling and dragging a matching large blue container out of his apartment and down the stairs.

A bone examination of the victim’s remains conducted by the Medical Examiner’s Office revealed two wedge-shaped tool marks on multiple ribs, indicating that she had been stabbed by an object such as a knife. 

After vacating his apartment, Griffin moved to Arkansas and began a new job driving a truck. He was taken into custody on Sept. 17, 2020, when he returned to the area to check in with his bonding agency on a separate criminal matter.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Asha F. Jackson presided over the trial.

The case, assigned to the Homicide and Gangs Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Scacco with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Furhawn Shah, District Attorney Investigator Antoine Winston, and Victim Advocate Christy Palmer. DKPD Detective Hoyt led the initial investigation.

Photo: James Lee Griffin, Jr. via DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.