Man accused of killing stepsons previously worked in MCSD, had criminal history
The man who allegedly shot and killed his teenage stepsons at their Midland home before Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed him Monday night was an assistant principal at two Columbus schools, according to the Muscogee County School District.
Eric Grigsby, 50, was assistant principal at Blackmon Road Middle School (2012-16) and at Waddell Elementary School (2016-18), MCSD communications director Kimberly Wright confirmed Wednesday.
“Mr. Eric Grigsby is a former employee of the MCSD,” Wright said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer. “He began his employment with the district in 2001.”
The L-E also asked whether he was fired or resigned from MCSD. This story will be updated when those questions are answered.
More about Eric Grigsby’s background
According to MCSD records, Grigsby served as a hearing officer on the school district’s discipline tribunal in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.
MCSD records also include Grigsby’s resume, which provides further information about his background.
He taught at Rothschild Leadership Academy, a middle school, for 11 years before becoming an assistant principal.
Grigsby earned a bachelor’s degree in middle grades education with a concentration in social studies and language arts at Columbus State University in 2001 and a master’s degree in educational leadership from CSU in 2009.
He was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society in 2009 and was honored as CSU’s most outstanding student among middle grades education graduates in 2001 and among educational leadership graduates in 2009.
Before he became an educator, Grigsby worked from 1995-2001 in the adolescent specialty treatment unit at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital, according to his resume.
Eric Grigsby’s last Facebook post
On his Facebook page, Grigsby listed his most recent occupation as owner of J&H Crawlspace Care LLC.
“Life is what you make of it,” he wrote in the intro of his Facebook page. “So make it friggin’ awesome!”
Nov. 9, in his final post on his Facebook page, one week before the fatal shootings, Grigsby posted a photo of himself with his wife and wrote, “She’s stuck with me thru it all! And I’m not easy!”
One commenter wrote, “Takes a very strong man to make changes like that. I’m very proud of you.”
Another wrote, “Respect!”
And his wife wrote, “There’s nobody I’d rather stick with than you.”
His father, Donald Grigsby, posted this message on his own Facebook page the day after the incident:
“OUR SON, ERIC GRIGSBY, DURING A DOMESTIC MURDER-SUICIDE, DIED AT THE HANDS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, LAST NITE AROUND 8PM, AT HIS HOME IN MIDLAND,” Donald Grigsby wrote. “... PLEASE PRAY FOR THE 3 LOST SOULS, AND ALL SURVIVORS. WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE OUR SON.AND, KNOW AT LAST HIS LIFE BATTLE WITH DEMONS, IS OVER. RIP, MY SON. WE LOVE YOU, MOM AND DAD.”
Eric Grigsby had prior arrests
According to Columbus Police Department records, Grigsby was arrested and charged with simple battery and second-degree cruelty to a child Nov. 30, 2003, after fighting with a 29-year-old man on the porch of a Beech Street home.
The victim “sustained bruises to his head, face and injuries to his eye” from exchanging punches with Grigsby, the CPD report says. “The altercation occurred in the presence of a (7-year-old) juvenile, (the victim’s) girlfriend and Mr. Grigsby’s new wife.”
Police described the fight as being between the child’s “father and her mother’s boyfriend,” and the child heard them using “bad language toward each other.”
The report concludes with the officer recommending the report be forwarded to the Department of Family and Children Services.
Muscogee County court records show a criminal trespass and damage to property charge was added to Grigsby’s case with his simple battery and cruelty to children charges. The charges were dead-docketed, meaning the case was postponed indefinitely.
Another CPD incident report shows Grigsby was arrested and charged with driving under the influence April 8, 2018.
At the Spring Fling Fair in the parking lot of the Columbus Civic Center, a police officer saw a 2008 black Dodge Charger travel through a barricade, onto a pedestrian walkway and through the fairgrounds, passing “numerous rides and food vending stands,” the report says.
The responding police officer stopped the driver and identified him as Grigsby.
“Mr. Grigsby stated that he was attempting to turn around and didn’t realize he was in the fairgrounds,” the report says.
The officer noticed Grigsby’s “eyes were glossy” and he “appeared to be under the influence of an unknown alcoholic beverage,” the report says.
Grigsby told the officer “he had consumed a beer or two prior to operating the motor vehicle due to ongoing personal problems,” the report says.
After failing three field sobriety tests, Grigsby refused a breath test and didn’t give his consent for a search of his vehicle, according to the report. While taking an inventory of the vehicle before having it towed, the officer “inadvertently discovered two empty 40-ml Crown Royal bottles in the center console of the vehicle,” the report says.
Grigsby was transported to the Muscogee County Jail and charged with DUI and an open container violation.
In the DUI case, Muscogee County court records show Grigsby was found guilty of reckless driving and open container and sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation. He also paid a fine of $1,315.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 9:29 AM.
