Prosecutors on Saturday said DNA and forensic evidence tied a 20-year-old Auburn Gresham to a two-year-old triple homicide in the Morgan Park neighborhood that authorities believe began as a home invasion.
Zavier Jacquel Griffin faces charges for first-degree murder, home invasion, residential burglary and armed robbery in the early April 2022 attack that left Arteria Riley, 81, and her two children, Ruben, 61, and Thomas Ann Riley, 64 dead, according to police and court records.
Griffin also faces a single count of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm after his DNA matched forensic evidence taken from a rape kit performed on the 81-year-old victim, court records showed.
Appearing before Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman Saturday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Griffin was ordered detained until trial as a danger to the community.
Another Cook County judge signed an arrest warrant for Griffin last April, but the suspect wasn’t arrested until Friday at the downstate Pinckneyville Correctional Center, where he was slated for parole for a 2023 gun case.
In court, prosecutors offered claims of evidence that they said tied Griffin to the scene of the murder. One such piece of evidence was Griffin’s recorded confession to a prison inmate while in custody for the gun case.
Longtime residents of the neighborhood, the family was found dead inside their Cape Cod-style home in the 11300 block of South Green Street during a well-being check. Thomas Ann and Ruben Riley both died from gunshot wounds, while their mother, found partially unclothed at the bottom of her home’s steps, suffered a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma, according to court documents.
Police said Griffin was identified as the person who entered the family’s home between April 4th and 5th in 2022. Griffin broke into the home intent on stealing firearms and cash, according to court documents.
Authorities said the killer surveilled the Riley home the day before the attack, adding that cell phone tower records and low-quality video surveillance placed Griffin near the crime scene at the time of the murder.
Chicago police sought to have Griffin charged with murder and criminal sexual assault in 2023, but prosecutors declined to charge him at the time, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.
While questioned by Chicago detectives last year, Griffin denied any knowledge of the homicides, claiming that Ruben Riley had taught him to fix cars.
Both of the Riley siblings’ vehicles were taken from the home after the slayings but were later recovered by police.
Inside the trunk of Thomas Ann Riley’s vehicle, authorities found a garbage bag containing knives taken from the Riley home, along with duct tape, gloves, clothing and a water bottle that tested positive with Griffin’s DNA, authorities said.
Griffin is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday.
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