Contact: Beth Stone
508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A California man has been arraigned and charged in the 2016 death of a two-year-old Brockton boy, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Timy Jo Griffin (DOB: 03/14/95) of Long Beach, California was arraigned in Brockton Superior Court today on one count each of Murder and Reckless Endangerment of a Child. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held without bail.
On December 5, 2016 at 6:57 pm, Brockton Police received a 911 call for an unresponsive two-year-old male at 23 East Main Street in Brockton. Brockton Police and Fire responded and transported the boy to Brockton Hospital. The boy was later medflighted to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment, where he died three days later as a result of his injuries. The boy was identified as Nazeir Phillips of Brockton, who was two years, eight months old.
Brockton Police contacted State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and an investigation commenced. Investigators conducted multiple interviews of Griffin, who was the boyfriend of the mother of the victim, and the boy’s caretaker at the time he suffered the severe head trauma. Griffin reported that Phillips had a tantrum, fell off of his toddler bed and struck his head, which rendered him unconscious. As part of their extensive investigation, detectives interviewed numerous physicians that treated the two-year-old victim as well as consulting with an outside expert not involved in the case. All stated that the young child’s injuries, namely extreme retinal hemorrhaging and uncontrollable swelling to his brain, were likely the result of violent shaking and/or slamming of the young child. Griffin left Brockton and returned to California while the boy remained in critical condition in the hospital.
On June 28, 2019, a Plymouth County Grand Jury returned secret indictments charging Griffin and just after midnight this morning, State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office returned him from California where he was taken into custody.
Griffin is next scheduled to appear in court on September 9, 2019.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jeremy Beth Kusmin, Barbara Isola and Vanessa Madge, and was investigated by State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and Brockton Police.