SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A bond was not set for a woman facing a murder charge in the case of a Spartanburg County man found dead in a shallow grave.

A magistrate judge was unable to set Strachan’s bond Saturday morning. A circuit court judge will decide on a bond at a later date. That date has not been released.

28-year-old Jessica Marie Strachan was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

We previously reported that Devantae Griffin was reported missing by his mother on March 30. The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said he was last seen on March 29 leaving a home on Winsmith Avenue with Strachan, his on and off girlfriend.

Deputies said during Strachan’s interview, she gave them misleading information and became a person of interest. When deputies attempted to meet her for a second interview, she fled to Florida without notice. She was charged with obstruction of justice and arrested by police in Miami on April 1.

Strachan was extradited back to Spartanburg County, and a judge gave her a bond of $5,000 and placed her on house arrest.

She was bonded out of jail on April 15 but was arrested on April 29 after she violated her home detention.

During the investigation, 33-year-old Tarus Dorail Crook, of Spartanburg, was also named as a person of interest.

According to the sheriff’s office, Griffin’s body was found in a shallow grave behind the Evans Acres neighborhood on April 26.

“We have a murder. This is not just a missing person anymore,” said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright.

Investigators said Griffin’s blood was found “throughout” Strachan’s home. The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office ruled his manner of death as a homicide.

Griffin’s family was in the courtroom Saturday as Strachan appeared before a judge.

“We’ve been praying for this moment for a few months now,” said Griffin’s aunt Beverly Griffin. “We just need some closure about what happened to him and why.” 

They told 7News this is just the beginning as they seek justice for Griffin.

“We just want him to be remembered as a good person,” said Beverly Griffin.

“To know that I’ll never see him again really hurts,” added Griffin’s mother Felicia Griffin. “He didn’t deserve to be thrown away like trash.”

If convicted, Strachan faces life in prison.