A Putnam County jury of seven women and five men today found 54-year-old Eldridge C. Griner, a former resident of Palatka, guilty in the premeditated murder of Joseph Brinson at an apartment on North 16th Street in Palatka the evening of May 25, 2021. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Judge Alicia Washington.
Griner had described the killing as an “execution” he had planned for days, in retribution for an alleged Brinson killing in what appeared to have been gang-related retaliations. Griner also called the killing “righteous,” as he considered himself to be “cleaning” society.
According to the Palatka Police Department’s investigation, Brinson had been spending the evening at the house on 16th Street with several people, including a woman who had been in a relationship for two weeks with Griner–who had been violent with her: he’d pistol-whipped her earlier that month. But when Brinson asked her if she knew someone who could sell him “molly,” the drug also known as ecstasy or MDMA, she called Griner.
Griner showed up in a ski mask, but was apparently known to others in the house as well, who told police that it wasn’t unusual for him to wear a ski mask. He got into an argument with the woman, who got so frightened that she grabbed a knife. Brinson tried to calm the situation, and walked out with Griner. There was a gunshot. The woman ran out and saw Brinson on the ground in the driveway. He’d been shot once behind the ear.
Before fleeing Palatka, Griner attempted to establish an alibi with people he knew there, asking them to lie. He then fled to South Carolina, where he was arrested on an unrelated matter. Police seized his phone, which was sent to the Palatka Police Department. Its data included pictures of Griner wearing a ski mask and gang-related communications. He called himself a “Mafia Boss of G code mafia.”
In an interview with police, “Griner advised that there was a ‘hit’ on Brinson,” his arrest report states, “because Brinson killed his Mafia brothers.” Brinson had been a known suspect in the killing of Darien Greene, according to the report. He subsequently confessed to killing Brinson, according to the report. He portrayed the killing as a good deed and told police they should let him out so he could continue to “clean” the community, “righteously,” according to the arrest affidavit.
But he then contested the charge of first-degree murder. The case was investigated by the Palatka Police Department. Assistant State Attorneys
Mark Johnson and Alexander Gilewicz prosecuted the case. Douglas Dorsey defended Griner.
“The fact that a convicted murderer will never walk the streets again is a Christmas gift for the citizens of our communities,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office. “His ruthless and brutal execution of our victim reflects the violent depravity of his character.”
