‘A predator inside the family circle’: Man gets bittersweet justice for daughter’s murder

After a Russell County jury returned a guilty verdict against Christian Grissom Jr. in the strangling death of his cousin Keonte Chavis, the woman’s father said the decision was bittersweet after a week-long trial.

“The sweet part was just to know my daughter is receiving justice,” Anthony Chavis said Friday after the verdict.

Chavis, 47, said the bitter part of the court process was someone close to his daughter and a person she looked up to allowed something horrific to happen to her. He described the case as one that has split the Chavis and the Grissom families.

With a verdict, Chavis said now is the time for both families to come together again, although there is a lesson from the trial.

“A lot of young beautiful women in the family now have to take in consideration not just predators outside but sometimes it can be a predator inside the family circle,” Chavis said during an interview outside his Columbus hotel.

On Aug. 9, 2014, Chavis’ daughter, Keonte, was found dead in the 300 block of Ridge Road in Seale, Ala. Grissom, her cousin and one she considered a brother while growing up, was the last person seen with the 19-year-old woman. She was spotted with Grissom, also called “Little Chris,” at a friend’s house on Aug. 6 in Phenix City and later at a liquor store.

Chavis described his daughter as a fun-loving person who would light up a room once she got to know you.

“She was quiet if you didn’t know her,” he said. “ She could be in a room and like we are having a conversation, she could be sitting right there but the minute she is comfortable with people, she is smiling, laughing, likes to joke.”

Keonte and Grissom both grew up in Newburgh, N.Y., a city near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. Keonte came to live in Phenix City when she was 12 or 13, and stayed with her great grandmother, her father said.

In 2012, she graduated from Central High School in Phenix City where she played varsity basketball until she injured her knee. After graduating from high school, she had hopes of becoming a veterinarian but later took the test to join the U.S. Army and scored high. She also had a scholarship to attend Alabama State University.

When he learned his daughter was missing, Chavis said he came to Phenix City to join the search.

“We were all around the riverfront,” he said. “We were just searching for her.”

Throughout the process, Chavis said he and Grissom’s father couldn’t understand where was his son.

“We both couldn’t understand,” he said. “Nah, it couldn’t be Little Chris. That was not a thought in our minds to do that cause they grew up like brother and sister.”

Grissom, 32, was back in New York where he was arrested two days after Keonte’s body was found.

“I thought if he didn’t do it, we needed him to help us solve who did do it,” he said. “You were the last that seen her. You would have to have some vital information to solve this.”

In the days ahead, Chavis said he’s still going to continue being a part of the Grissom family.

“In any way I can to help mentor them and guide them from this side to this side, pull them tighter together,” he said. “They kind of separated the family a little bit.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 7:20 PM with the headline "‘A predator inside the family circle’: Man gets bittersweet justice for daughter’s murder."