Marshville teen indicted on first-degree murder charge in slaying of Monroe man

A Marshville teen has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the July killing of a Monroe man.

Union County prosecutors are still deciding whether to seek the death penalty in the case, District Attorney Trey Robison said. A hearing where prosecutors have to announce that decision has not been set yet.

Jadis Deon’Tae Cole, 18, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of justice in the death of Carroll Willis Griffin, 30. Griffin was found shot to death beside his car on East Hudson Street in Monroe in the early morning hours of July 11.

Griffin had eight children and helped provide for another child, Monroe police spokesman Pete Hovanec said.

Cole was a student at South Providence School in Waxhaw, police records show. South Providence is an alternative school for students in grades six though 12 who have difficulty in a traditional school environment, according to Union County Public Schools.

Court and police records provided more details of a case that Hovanec said “point toward a drug deal going bad.”

Monroe police are working with the State Bureau of Investigation. On a search warrant affidavit by an SBI agent, the agent wrote that Griffin is “known by this applicant and other law enforcement officers” to sell marijuana in the Monroe area, and that Griffin “uses his cell phone to sell marijuana.”

On July 10, Griffin was calling and texting a phone – later determined to be Cole’s – “related to the purchase of marijuana from Griffin,” according to the affidavit. Griffin sent a text about where to meet and received a response at 12:17 a.m. July 11 of “Hudson?”

The last text Griffin received from the other phone was “U see me” at 12:32 a.m., records show.

Twenty minutes later, Monroe police were dispatched to the 500 block of East Hudson Street for a possible assault. When they arrived, they found Griffin’s body next to his 2014 Kia Optima in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

The front doors were open and the keys were in the ignition.

Two witnesses told authorities they saw a male walking away from the car’s passenger side very fast, according to the affidavit.

Griffin was robbed of $110 cash and marijuana, and killed with a handgun, according to Cole’s arrest warrant.

A search of Griffin’s Kia turned up 4 grams of marijuana, 4.4 ounces of marijuana in a baggie, a spent projectile and a Glock handgun, records show. The Glock was not the murder weapon, Hovanec said.

A review of police records found that the phone number Griffin had texted was involved in a 911 hang-up in May. When a 911 operator called that number back, the caller identified himself as Jadis Cole and said he accidentally had hit the emergency call button, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Cole was arrested July 17. His court-appointed attorney, Bobby Khan of Monroe, could not be reached for comment.

Cole has misdemeanor convictions for assault on a government official/employee and assault inflicting serious injury, records show. He also has pending trials on misdemeanor charges of simple possession of drugs and resisting a public officer.

Griffin had felony convictions for marijuana possession and delivering marijuana, records show. He also had misdemeanor convictions of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen goods/property, attempted breaking or entering a building, resisting a public officer and disorderly conduct.

Observer researcher Maria David contributed

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Marshville teen indicted on first-degree murder charge in slaying of Monroe man."