A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Lake Superior Court Judge Gina Jones on Wednesday sentenced Anthony Day, 56, to 102 years in prison for the death of Ajohnte Griffin. Day was convicted in March on three of five charges for shooting his ex-girlfriend and killing her new boyfriend in Gary in 2017.
Jones gave Day 60 years for the murder charge, 30 years for the attempted murder charge and an additional 12 years for possession of a firearm by a serious felon. He will serve those sentences consecutively.
Patricia Hill, Griffin’s mother, said she doesn’t know why Day killed her son, but that she “forgives him.” His father, Tanitia Washington, said Griffin remains with them even if he’s not physically here.
“We all look like him,” Washington said. “He’s my twin.”
Jones told Day that she doesn’t often see grace from the victims’ families and that he’ll be a better person for it.
Defense attorney Scott King told the court that despite his violent offenses, Day is not “the worst of the worst” and still managed to be a respectful son and brother, and a productive member of society. He also took issue with the victim’s testimony transcript, which caused a first trial to end in a mistrial.
Day will appeal the sentence, King said.
Authorities accused Day of showing up uninvited to the woman’s Gary home, shooting her in the collarbone and then killing Griffin, 36, of East Chicago, after the woman had run out the door.
Day’s first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2019 after the woman’s landlord said after he testified that he knew Day from a work release program.
The woman also testified at the first trial. However, she did not respond to a subpoena for last week’s trial and prosecutors filed to say she wouldn’t show up. They read out her prior testimony from the June 2019 trial over several hours on Thursday to jurors.
The biggest issue in the appeal, King said, would be the fact that prosecutors read the transcript rather than having jurors see a witness and being able to judge her credibility in person.
The woman told police she had ended her relationship with Day about two weeks before the shooting, which occurred early Feb. 10, 2017, at a residence in the 300 block of McKinley Street in Gary. She and her friend, Griffin, had just arrived home after being out all day.
She broke up with Day shortly after he saw her hug Griffin, according to 2019 testimony prosecutors read aloud. The woman admitted she started dating Griffin shortly before she split with Day.
The woman had checked her windows and doors to make sure they were locked, then started taking a bath, court records state. While in the bathroom, the woman said she heard a commotion from a west bedroom of her home and discovered Griffin struggling with Day, records state.
After speaking with the men, they both lowered their weapons, court records said. Day kept saying he just wanted to talk to the woman and Griffin said he wanted to get the clip to his weapon and leave, documents said.
The woman said she got dressed and Day continued to ask if he could talk to her, but the woman said she didn’t trust him with a gun in his hands and didn’t want to talk, records state.
“You played me,” Day told the woman, according to court records. “I’ve been wanting to do this for the longest,” Day repeated twice, then opened fire at the woman, who turned and ran, according to the probable cause affidavit.
After she ran outside, the woman said she heard two gunshots. The woman said she hid until she saw that police had made it to her home, documents said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Meredith Colias-Pete contributed.
