Murder trial begins for man accused of stabbing beloved Atlanta pastor to death

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a man accused of stabbing to death an Atlanta pastor who was counseling him.

Christopher Griggs is charged with malice murder and first-degree arson in the death of Rev. Marita Harrell, who was the senior pastor at Connections at Metropolitan United Methodist Church. She told her family she believed God had called her to mentor incarcerated people.

One of those people was 27-year-old Christopher Griggs.

On May 18, 2022, authorities say Harrell's husband and oldest daughter found her body in a burned van that had been abandoned along an isolated stretch of Coffee Road in DeKalb County.

Griggs was arrested the next day. Police said investigators tracked Griggs using the reverend's phone. Rev. Harrell had a counseling session with Griggs the same night she was found dead, investigators said. 

Detectives accused Griggs of stabbing Harrell at his home on Panola Road, dumping her body in her van, driving to the remote location, and trying to hide the crime by setting a fire.

FOX 5 learned that Griggs was out on bond pending trials in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties at the time of the murder.

Christopher Griggs' troubled past

Griggs has run into several legal issues over the past few years. One of those issues was supposed to be addressed in court a month before Harrell's death, but records indicate he never showed up. Gwinnett County Judge Deborah R. Fluker issued a bench warrant for Griggs’ arrest earlier this month after failing to appear for a hearing on April 28.

His charges date back to August 2020, when police said Griggs walked onto a Gwinnett County car dealership’s lot dressed as a detective with handcuffs, a gun, and a badge. He claimed a vehicle in for repair was part of a hit-and-run investigation, and he needed to take it, witnesses told detectives. The young man then drove off the lot. Police said the dealer followed him and eventually confronted him, not believing Griggs. Eventually, police said Griggs told investigators that the vehicle belonged to a family member, and he was trying to swap out good parts for faulty ones from another vehicle so that insurance would end up paying for it.

Griggs was booked at the Gwinnett County Adult Detention Center where he would spend the next two months. Jail records indicate he was free for only 12 days before being arrested again for posing as an officer, but this time DeKalb County police said he sexually battered a woman. Griggs was dressed in a tactical police uniform, investigators said, when he approached the woman in a parking garage off Redan Road, he used the threat of arrest to hold her against her will and overpowered her. The woman was able to get away and call 911.

After a month in jail, Griggs was charged with attempting to take a guard’s firearm. He would eventually be transferred to the Fulton County Jail in March, where records show he spent the next year.

It was in the fall of 2021 when Rev. Harrell entered Griggs’ life. She began to mentor the young man and give counsel. Despite her efforts, court records indicate Griggs missed two court hearings in Gwinnett County after he was released, once at the end of March and the other at the end of April. Bench warrants would be issued for his arrest after each.

Family concerned over the dangers of Rev. Marita Harrell's mentorship

Harrell’s family said she loved everybody, no matter their walk of life. Her family expressed their concerns about some of the people she was mentoring, but she explained that God had put a calling on her life to help those in need.

"She had an open, wonderful and accepting heart, and she was always willing to learn about new people, and she loved people," her daughter Alyse Harrell said.

MORE: Family of late Rev. Marita Harrell says God called her to mentor those in trouble

Alyse had nothing but praise for her mother. The family said the 57-year-old had been a ferocious advocate for her two daughters, a loving wife to her husband Antonio, and a person who loved and served people.

"That was a point of contention between the two of us, between all of us, especially with this gentleman because he called two weeks ago," said Antonio Harrell, the pastor’s husband. "She told me, ‘Antonio, God has placed these people in my life, I cannot turn away from them.’"

When the senior pastor at Connections at Metropolitan United Methodist Church didn't make it home Wednesday night, her husband and older daughter searched for her by tracking her phone. Antonio and Marae discovered the unimaginable.

"I was there and I still didn't believe it.  I was expecting her to wake up, open her eyes or move," said Marae Harrell, the pastor’s daughter.

The Harrell family said Marita’s legacy will live on through them and all the people she touched.

"Her light will be shining forever. She's gonna be around forever," Marae concluded.

Christopher Griggs' murder trial: Day 1

Shortly after opening statements began, Griggs abruptly asked to speak with his lawyers and insisted on being removed from the trial.

He was not present for the day's proceedings and his attorneys told jurors the woman he was renting a room from was the actual killer.

The state says that woman, LaKeya Reid, was inside the house when the murder took place.

Reid told jurors she was like an aunt to Griggs and gave him rides a lot. She also admitted they had had sex before. On May 18, Ms. Reid told jurors Griggs asked her to follow him to Coffee Road where he left Rev. Harrell's van with her body hidden in the trunk, according to prosecutors.

Reid said she did not realize Harrell had been killed, and she was unaware Griggs dragged Harrell's body to the car. She is expected to testify during the trial.

The DeKalb County murder trial is expected to last a week.

FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor contributed to this report.