Dedrick Griham
Dedrick Griham (born 1971), is a felon, convicted for the kidnap and rape of Birmingham lawyer Sandra Gregory which triggered a sensational chase on May 31, 2006.
Griham was paroled from a 20-year sentence for a Mobile robbery in August 2005. After his parole, he was living in various halfway houses. He had been evicted from one such home in May, 2006.
On the morning of May 31, Griham forced Gregory into her boyfriend's Lexus RX300 in the parking lot of her Watts Tower apartment. A construction worker at a nearby building witnessed the abduction and notified police, who recovered video tape from the building's security camera for release to the media.
After stops at three AmSouth Bank branches (Fairfield, Five Points West and Forestdale) to withdraw cash from her account, the vehicle was abandoned in the 1500 block of Arthur Shores Drive in the mostly-empty Cooper Green Housing Community around 9:45. Jermain Bailey, a college student, then gave the two a ride to the Comfort Inn on Oxmoor Road in Homewood and rented a room for them in exchange for $40. He said he saw nothing amiss. Gregory spoke to her boyfriend briefly by telephone at 11:00 AM, but was unable to give any information to him.
Between 4:45 and 5:30 in the afternoon Birmingham Police surrounded Gregory and her abductor, who were located in room 226. She had been bound and raped, but was not gravely injured. Her abductor was taken into custody. On Friday, June 2, Griham was charged with first degree kidnapping, robbery, rape and sodomy and held without bond. He was later charged by Federal prosecutors with carjacking and gun possession by a felon during a violent crime. He escaped from the Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore County on September 7, but was recaptured by federal agents while hiding in a Birmingham apartment two days later. He was later indicted on a first-degree escape charge.
During his November 2006 trial in federal court, Griham's defense argued that the kidnapping was staged by Gregory and arranged through an intermediary, a prostitute named "Punkin" or "Puddin". In rebuttal, Gregory testified that she had never met Griham and feared for her life during her abduction. On November 13, 2006 the federal jury convicted Griham of carjacking, of having a gun during the commission of a violent crime, and of possessing a gun while being a convicted felon. On March 1, 2007 Griham was sentenced to life plus 84 months in prison. He still faces the charges for escape in state court.
References
- Walton, Val (November 10, 2006) "Griham calls abduction a fake." Birmingham News.
- Walton, Val (November 13, 2006) "Man charged in carjacking of lawyer, 2 gun crimes, convicted on all three." Birmingham News.
- Walton, Val (February 9, 2007) "Convicted felon faces new charge of escape." Birmingham News.
- Walton, Val (March 1, 2007) "Griham gets life plus 84 months for kidnapping." Birmingham News