CANTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — Last Thursday at around 12:20 a.m., a wrong-way driver hit and killed a 32-year-old Canton mother of two.
Thirty-seven-year-old Maurice Griffin has been charged with second-degree murder, operating with a suspended license and operating while intoxicated along with two other felonies.
Police say Desiree Jones was driving Westbound on Michigan Avenue near Lilley Road when Griffin crashed into her head on.
Family says she had a fear of car crashes and was on her way home from her job at Amazon in Plymouth. This Friday was supposed to be her last day on the job as she was pursuing a career in the medical field.
Her two young daughters ages 1 and 4 are now left without a mother.
“These two don’t deserve that, myself as well, but these two for sure," Desiree's husband of five years Brian Jones said.
Brian Jones says he knew something was wrong when his wife never texted him back after work last Thursday.
“I know her routine and I know when something is off because she does the same thing literally, daily," he said.
His fears were confirmed when Canton police showed up to his door Thursday and notified him that his wife was critically hurt. She died from her injuries at a local hospital.
Canton police say because of the median and after taking a look at surveillance, Griffin would’ve had to have been going the wrong way for at least a mile before he crashed.
"It’ll eat him alive eventually, so he's got to get right with the man up there," Brian Jones added.
Whether caused by alcohol, drugs or confusion, the Michigan Department of Transportation says wrong-way drivers are a serious problem in Michigan. That’s why over the last few years, MDOT has added reflective strips to "Do Not Enter" and "Wrong Way" signs and most recently received a federal grant to install advanced cameras detecting wrong-way drivers and triggering bright flashing lights until the vehicle turns around or the driver is out of the camera's line of sight.
The locations of the placement of cameras were chosen based on their proximity to the M-1 corridor in metro Detroit and a comprehensive review of wrong-way driving events in the areas as of 2019.
The eight exit ramps with the cameras will be:
- Eastbound I-696 at M-1
- Westbound I-696 at M-1
- Southbound I-375 at Larned
- Southbound I-375 at Monroe
- Southbound I-375 at Madison
- Northbound I-75 at Mack
- Southbound I-75 at Mack
- Southbound I-75 at Warren
“I hope it helps, absolutely," Brian Jones said. "Nobody else needs to lose any loved ones wife, husband, kids for stuff of that nature. There’s already enough going on in the world, that’s just senseless and careless.”
Judge Laura Echartea set Griffin’s bond at $1 million cash. His next court appearance will be at 35th District Court on June 2 for a probable cause conference. His preliminary exam is scheduled for June 28. He is facing life in prison if convicted.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help Desiree Jones' daughters get through this difficult time.
