Mom does plastic surgery to look like murdered daughter

For five years, Latoya Reid has lived with a grief so deep that she altered her own appearance to keep a piece of her murdered daughter alive.

On Thursday, as an Orlando, Florida court found Doujon Griffiths guilty of murdering her only child, Massania ‘Carla’ Malcolm, and one-year-old granddaughter Jordania, Reid walked away with a measure of justice.

But the verdict could not erase the pain that drove her to undergo plastic surgery so that, every time she looked in the mirror, she would see a reflection of the daughter she lost.

“It was a bittersweet moment,” Reid told THE WEEKEND STAR after the guilty verdict. “I didn’t want to be in this position where I lost my only child and have to be doing all of this. But it done happen already and at the end of the day I fight to the finish with them.”

Griffiths was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and three counts of shooting at, within, or into a building. His sentencing is scheduled for November 16.

For Reid, however, the case was always about far more than a courtroom victory.

Following Malcolm’s death, the Jamaica-born nurse made an extraordinary decision. She underwent plastic surgery, and had her facial features redone to have her look like her daughter.

“It was just a coping mechanism,” she said of the decision to undergo plastic surgery. “Every time I look into the mirror, I can have a glimpse of my child,” she explained.

“I told the doctor that I wanted to look similar to her because every time I see myself, I see her as well. That was why I did that particular surgery.”

The mother and daughter had migrated from St James to Florida in 2016, chasing better opportunities and a brighter future. Reid, who later became a registered nurse, said she had endured years of hardship after giving birth to Malcolm at just 14 years old.

“Mi battle with mi pickney straight from she born until she died because I had her very young at the age of 14 and life wasn’t sweet,” she said. “When life start get sweet now, Doujon take mi pickney from mi.”

Malcolm, 20, was found shot dead inside a vehicle in September 2021, two days after she went missing. Her daughter, Jordania, died from heat exposure after being left trapped in the car.

Malcolm’s partner, who was also shot during the attack, survived and later helped investigators piece together what happened.

Authorities said Griffiths had been staying with the couple after becoming homeless. Investigators believe tensions developed because he was not contributing to the household. On September 7, 2021, the couple reportedly told Griffiths he had to leave and were taking him to a bus stop when he opened fire.

After the killings, Griffiths vanished and remained on the run for more than two years before being captured during a traffic stop in Linden, New Jersey, in March 2024.

Reid said sitting through the trial and coming face-to-face with the man accused of destroying her family was one of the hardest experiences of her life.

“Doujon had the audacity to plead not guilty and was trying to prove his innocence when the evidence was stockpiled against him,” she said. “It was nerve-racking being in that courtroom with him. I was shaking and my belly was weak.”

She added: “Imagine having to hold my composure sitting close to someone who destroy my life. Imagine sitting close to someone who wiped out my entire generation and I can’t do anything.”

Throughout the proceedings, Reid watched Griffiths closely.

“We sat there and observed Doujon taking notes, giggling and smiling and sitting there like nothing happened,” she said.

Now that the verdict has been delivered, Reid has one mission.

“We are going to continue to keep the names of my daughter and granddaughter alive,” she said. “I am holding on to the 20 years that I had with my daughter and the one year that I had with that beautiful little baby girl.”