Gina Grant

Case record: Gina Grant

Parties and identity

Gina Grant was an American woman born in 1976 who gained notoriety for receiving early admission to Harvard University, which was later rescinded after it became known that she had killed her mother and had omitted this fact from her college application.

Gina was the daughter of Charles Grant and Dorothy Mayfield, both of whom lived in Lexington, South Carolina. She had one sister who was 9 years older than her. Gina’s father died of lung cancer when Gina was 11.

At the time of the 1990 killing, Gina was 14 years old and was therefore a juvenile.

The offence

On September 13, 1990, in Lexington, South Carolina, Gina Grant bludgeoned her mother thirteen times with a crystal candlestick, crushing her skull.

Afterwards, Gina mopped up pools of blood from the kitchen floor and hid the candlestick and bloody rags in a closet. She then attempted to make the death look like suicide by sticking a carving knife into the side of her mother’s neck and wrapping her mother’s fingers around the handle.

Gina changed her account of what happened multiple times during questioning. Initially, she told police that her mother attacked her while holding a knife and then stabbed herself in the throat. When the candlestick was discovered, Gina changed her story and eventually said she had committed the killing in self-defense.

Evidence about her mother included that Dorothy Mayfield was described as an alcoholic, with prosecutors describing her as a “functional alcoholic,” and that she had a blood alcohol level of 30 at the time of her death, with a reading of 37 described as potentially fatal. Gina claimed that her mother had been physically abusive, which her sister attested to. Police later suspected premeditation because Gina reportedly said nothing about problems at home until a few days before the killing.

The autopsy findings included that Dorothy had been hit over the head with considerable force at least 13 times. The first blow was struck from behind while she was sitting at the kitchen table; she had tried to ward off further blows but was beaten to the ground. The autopsy described that she was already dead when a kitchen knife was driven into her throat with such force that it was embedded one and a half inches into the vertebrae. The description added that someone pressed the dead woman’s hand around the handle of the knife in a clumsy attempt to make it look like a self-inflicted wound.

The candlestick was described as a present from Gina to her mother and was described as having been wiped clean of fingerprints.

Investigators concluded that Gina’s problems with her mother were less to do with her mother’s alcoholism than with Gina’s adolescent relationship with her boyfriend, Jack Hook.

Investigation

A Lexington County sheriff, James Metts, handled the original case and released Grant’s name immediately after her arrest.

Shortly after the killing, Dana Grant made a 911 emergency call from a payphone at an Amoco garage near her home. Dana Grant described that she had just arrived home from work but found both the back and side door locked. She stated that her mother and her younger sister, Gina, should have been home. When Dana yelled for someone to open the door, she said nobody replied. Dana tried to open the front door with her key, but said it was pushed shut again from the inside.

A Lexington County sheriff’s deputy, Tim Darling, responded to Dana’s call, picked up Dana at the garage, and drove her home. When they arrived they found 14-year-old Gina standing outside in an agitated state. Gina told her sister that she had gotten into a fight with her mother and that her mother was hurt and might be dead. Darling entered the house and saw what appeared to be thick smears of blood on the floor of the entrance hall. In the dining room he found the body of a woman with multiple lacerations about the head and a kitchen knife stuck in her throat.

A detective, John Phillips, arrived soon afterward. Phillips gave a description of the homicide, recalling blood everywhere, spattered all over the walls in the kitchen, and that it appeared the victim had been killed in the kitchen and dragged into the dining room for some reason. Phillips said that Dana was shaken, but Gina was excited, “like her adrenaline was flowing.”

Gina and Dana agreed to accompany Phillips back to the County Sheriff’s Department. Gina made statements beginning at about 2 a.m.

Gina’s statements to police (initial)

In Gina’s first statement, she said her mother, Dorothy, was drunk and screaming at her while Gina was on the telephone to her boyfriend, Jack Hook. After Gina put the telephone down, Gina said her mother said, “We need to have this out now,” and acted as if she wanted a fight, saying she was going to “beat her butt” and show Gina who was in charge.

Gina told police that Dorothy unbuttoned her blouse because she did not want to “mess up her $300 suit” and took off her rings and her watch. Gina said she was coming down from her bedroom when her mother grabbed her near the top of the stairs; they struggled and fell and Gina said her mother hit her head.

Gina’s statement included the following verbatim account:

“I was trying to get away from her and she kept grabbing my arms and, and doing this number, and trying to hit me. I mean she hit me in the back, she hit me in my shoulder, she, she slapped me a couple of times. Then, somehow, I don't know exactly how, I never really saw it, she had a knife and she pulled it up... I was terrified at that point 'cause I, I just knew that she was going to kill me. I grabbed her arm and we bumped around and I said, 'No, Momma, no!' and stuff like that. I jerked free of her and was backing up and she just looked at me and said 'One of us has got to go' again and she stabbed herself right in front of my eyes and then she was on the floor. Then I just, uh, stared at her for a couple of seconds. I looked at my hands and they were covered in blood'.”

Phillips did not believe this account, describing that he could not think the head injuries could have been caused by falling down carpeted stairs and noting the absence of blood around the wound, leading him to think the knife had been stuck into her mother’s throat after she had died.

Gina later conceded that the struggle might have been more violent than she originally suggested. She also said her mother made threats against Gina’s boyfriend, including “I'm going to kill that little son of a bitch.”

Forensic findings and updated statements

Forensic officers reported finding a plastic bag in a closet in Gina’s bedroom stuffed with towels used to mop up blood downstairs and her mother’s jacket soaked with blood. The bag also contained a lead crystal candlestick encrusted with blood, described as almost certainly the weapon used to kill Dorothy.

Confronted with this information before 5 a.m., Gina agreed to make a third statement in which she said she picked up the candlestick during the struggle and it might have bumped her mother on the head. Gina said she had withheld this earlier because she feared she would be seen as the killer, including the following verbatim statement:

“The only thing I withheld from you was that, because I thought that you would think I killed her, and I didn't. Everything else is true. I swear. I tried to get some of the blood up from everywhere. I did it because I don't want to go to jail, because I didn't kill her.”

Phillips described Gina during questioning as polite and dry-eyed with a calmly changing story. Phillips gave the following quotation about his assessment:

“If I hadn't been at the crime scene:' said Phillips, 'I would have thought that she was very believable:'”

Gina made a macabre joke when she asked to go to the rest room, telling the deputy, “Don't worry. I don't have any body parts in my pocket.'” Gina cried briefly when she was told she would be charged with murder and would not be going home that night.

Background evidence described during investigation

After the killing, stories emerged about Gina’s home life. Gina’s father, a civil engineer, had died three years earlier. Gina’s 43-year-old mother was described as taking to alcohol after the father’s death and being drunk almost every night at home. At the time of her death, her blood alcohol level was described as 30, with a reading of 37 described as potentially fatal. It was described that she sometimes flew into drunken rages and blamed Gina for the father’s death.

Police described that, despite claims of abuse, there was said to be limited evidence of abuse. The narrative included that Gina apparently said nothing about problems at home until a few days before the killing.

Evidence about a prior incident and boyfriend tensions

Investigators noted that about a month before the murder Gina stayed out all night with Jack Hook and attempted to deflect her mother’s wrath with a fabricated kidnap story about being shoved into a beat-up grey Toyota by a “tall, fat, smelly man,” told not to scream, and driven around all night. Gina later confessed it was made up and the matter was dropped.

Gina and her boyfriend were described as dating when Gina was 13. Jack Hook was described as having a police record for petty crime and vandalism, and he was described as often in trouble at school. Investigators suspected Hook might be involved.

Hook was interviewed at his home on the morning of the killing and swore he had not been at Gina’s house the previous night. He said he had spoken to her by telephone at about 9:30 p.m. and had heard her mother ranting in the background. The narrative later stated that a few days after the killing, Hook was fingerprinted and his prints matched those on the handle of the knife found in Dorothy Mayfield’s throat.

Hook protested that his fingerprints were probably on many knives and said he remembered practicing throwing knives into a tree. Detectives were described as unimpressed and believed Gina had called Hook to the house after the killing, that he stuck the knife into her throat, and that he helped clear up the mess.

Hook was charged with being an accessory and held in the juvenile wing of Lexington County jail.

Gina’s October 17, 1990 statement

On October 17, 1990, the sheriff’s department was contacted and told that Gina wished to make a new statement. In this statement, Gina said her boyfriend had killed her mother.

Gina’s revised version included that Hook came into the house through the back door while Gina was fighting with her mother in the kitchen. Gina said her mother then picked up a knife held a few inches from Gina’s face. Gina described Hook seeing her mother and striking her, including a verbatim account:

“I was just trying to make her drop it and I was still yelling and, uh, I saw him run off into the den area and then he came back. I remember seeing his hand raised with the crystal thing, the candlestick, in his hand. I saw him hit her once in the back of the head and then I just turned away... I didn't hear Momma scream, um, I, you know, didn't hear a whole lot of noises. I heard him hitting her and then I was leaning on the counter and I had my hands up against my head and I was screaming and then, I, I, looked up and I saw everything that had happened and Jack was just, he was standing there, he had started shaking all over and, um, he was saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God...”.”

When asked how the knife got into her mother’s throat, Gina replied, “I guess he stabbed her.”

At the end of this statement, Gina agreed she had come forward with the new story because she had been told that otherwise she would be going to jail. When asked directly whether she was telling them Jack did it so she could get out of jail, Gina answered “Basically.” She then said, “You just have to decide who you believe, I guess.”

Telephone recordings and letter from Jack

Sheila Hook, Jack Hook’s mother, was distraught when she learned Gina had made the new statement pinning blame on her son, despite Gina regularly telephoning Sheila from jail to say Jack was innocent. Jack’s lawyer advised Sheila to start recording her telephone conversations with Gina.

The transcripts included that Gina appeared composed, repeatedly discussing what Jack was telling his mother. In one call, Sheila read out a letter Jack had written to her. The letter stated:

“Gina, well how are you doing? Fine, I hope... Gina, I'm sorry and I know you're hurting all over, but I just want the best for you in the long run. Times are hard now, but they will get better. If you tell the whole truth of what happened the law will respect you for that and help you out, because they know how your mother was. I don't know what happened that night and I don't care, because I love you all the same. I know it's hard but, Gina, you have to get strong and help yourself. I'll stick by you the whole way, and wherever you go I'll be there whenever I can. It's not easy for me either, I mean I'm in jail for something I have nothing to do with. None of my friends will ever have the same trust in me. I can never play football again and I'll fail the ninth grade, but all that I can handle, but I can't handle seeing you in jail for the rest of your life. I'm sorry and I wish I could help you, but there's nothing I can do except tell you the best thing to do. I'm sorry again and I'll love you forever. Gina, just tell your lawyer what happened and he will straighten it out for you. I'm sorry again and I love you very much. PS: Write back. I love you forever, Gina. Jack.”

In the recorded call, Gina suggested that it might be a good idea for Jack to “confessed” and she suggested “confession” as a strategy, including these verbatim parts:

“Gina: Well, Jack has several options... one [is to] turn against me and say I did it, and then it turns into a circus and then we'll just have to see who they believe. Or he can make like a confession or something along those lines…”
“Mrs. Hook: "A confession!"
"Something, something along those lines…”
“Mrs. Hook: "I mean, really...(sniff) Jack wasn't there! Or was he? I mean one minute you say he was and one minute you say he wasn't”
“Gina: "No."
“Mrs. Hook: "(Sniff) No what?"
“Gina: "No, he wasn't, Mrs. Hook.””

Arrest

Gina was arrested by sheriff’s deputies for bludgeoning her mother to death in 1990. James Metts released her name immediately after her arrest.

Dana Grant described calling 911 and reporting locked doors and that her mother and Gina should have been home. After responding to the call, Tim Darling found Gina outside the house.

Trial

Gina was charged with murder following the killing.

Gina ultimately pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, in return for the prosecution dropping the murder charge.

Sentencing

Gina was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention. The sentence included probation until age 18.

Jack Hook pleaded no contest to being an accessory to voluntary manslaughter after the fact. The narrative stated he served nearly a year in juvenile detention.

Gina was sentenced to be detained in a youth correctional facility for an indeterminate period, not to exceed her 21st birthday.

Other legal proceedings and transfers

Nine months after the no-contest plea, a judge agreed that Gina could be transferred to Massachusetts to a special residential school for children with emotional problems.

The decision was described as being crucially based on commitments by her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts, Carol and Alan Bennett, to provide love and support and to pay for her residential care.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

Gina pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to juvenile detention for one year with probation until age 18.

Harvard rescinded her early admission to Harvard University after receiving anonymously mailed clips of South Carolina newspaper stories about her murder case and her application history. The rescission followed reports that she had told the Harvard interview board her mother had died “in an accident.” Harvard refused to grant her access to the admissions committee.

Campus publications and newspapers sided with Gina in some respects, citing her mother’s alcoholism and Gina’s allegations of physical abuse. Her lawyer argued that she was not obligated to disclose an event that occurred when she was a juvenile and which was sealed upon her turning 18.

Gina made no public appearances other than a brief statement, which was quoted as:

“I deal with this tragedy every day on a personal level. It serves no good purpose for anyone else to dredge up the pain of my childhood. In addition, I have no wish to defame my mother's memory by detailing any abuse.”

The narrative also stated that Gina had been accepted to Columbia University, Barnard College, and Tufts University. It stated that Columbia and Barnard also rescinded acceptances without discussing the matter with Grant. Tufts University President John DiBiaggio, who had the authority to reverse the decision of the Tufts admissions committee, chose not to and strongly supported their decision. Gina attended Tufts as part of the Class of 1999.

Aftermath

It was described that Gina began attending Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in 1992, where she excelled academically, tutored impoverished children, and was co-captain of the tennis team.

In South Carolina, the realization that Gina was free and living on her own less than 18 months after killing her mother reopened debate over whether she had “gotten away with murder.”

Marlene McLain of the South Carolina juvenile Parole Board was quoted describing unhappiness with the outcome, including:

“This young lady has made a mockery of the system and got off with a very, very light sentence. Young people who commit serious and brutal crimes need to be held accountable, to express an appropriate level of remorse, and go through a period of incarceration and rehabilitation. Quite frankly, she has manipulated the system.”

Sheriff James Metts was quoted saying Gina should have been dealt with much more harshly and that:

“Gina Grant is a very cunning, manipulative and intelligent young lady. She was smart enough to know what she was doing and smart enough to commit this crime and get away with it. I'm not saying she's a sociopath, but there's something about her that really worries me. I do think she could be violent again if she was put into a situation in which she was prevented from doing what she wanted to do.”

County solicitor Donnie Myers was quoted as saying the criminal justice system had failed and that he thought the crime must have been preplanned and driven by her relationship, including:

“In my opinion, the criminal justice system has failed miserably. This was the most gruesome juvenile crime I've ever handled in this county. I think it must have been preplanned. The key to it was that she was madly in love with that boy. I think the mother wanted to stop her seeing the boy so she just picked up the candlestick and beat the hell out of her. But she was clever, no question. She stood toe to toe with the officers questioning her and denied everything. You would catch her out in these tremendous lies and she would just come right back at you with something else. She never did fess up.”

Gina’s lawyer Jack Swerling was quoted saying:

“I have no doubt Gina hit her mother in self-defence.”

He also described her maturity and stated:

“What struck me most about Gina was her maturity. I was amazed how bright and articulate she was. She was a unique client and I always knew she was going to do great things.”

He said she stayed out of the debate about Harvard admissions and described publicists and agents who had wanted to sign her up, and that:

“She's been offered book contracts and movie contracts and national television interviews, but she's turned them all down. She is not looking for attention. All she wants to do is get her education and do something with herself.”

Jack Hook, after being released on parole, was described as getting into further trouble and being back in a high security adult prison serving 10 years for second degree burglary, grand larceny, and safe cracking.

Other details

In connection with investigations, Gina reported that her mother was an alcoholic and that her mother was physically abusive, which her sister attested to.

Gina was described as water skiing on nearby Lake Murray during the Labor Day weekend before the killing and confiding to her friend Christy Harrelson that she was frightened her mother was going to kill her.

In the same narrative, Eileen Harrelson was quoted describing the way Gina presented herself to others and stating, “None of us will ever know what happened that night with her mother, and I don't know how much Gina remembers, but I feel sure she thought her life was threatened. I see her as a victim, yes I do.”

Richard Gelles, director of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island, was quoted saying it was “very unusual” for a daughter to kill her mother and elaborated on psychological abuse in children of alcoholics.

In the investigation, the Lexington County sheriff James Metts and county solicitor Donnie Myers were quoted with opinions about the crime’s planning and Gina’s conduct.

Gina’s boyfriend was described as having been held back a year because of poor grades and as being in the same school as Gina and playing on the junior varsity football team.

A statement about Dana Grant’s 911 call described the house as a “pleasant colonial style house with brown shutters, set in its own grounds off Highway 378.”