Killer Woman Left Note on Victim’s Body Explaining Motive

A Florida woman is facing a murder charge after police say she bludgeoned a man to death with a metal hammer—then left a chilling note on his body accusing him of being a pedophile.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, 21-year-old Journee McGrew was arrested in connection with the brutal July 2 killing of 41-year-old Waduta Woodley. Officers responding to an apartment complex in Jacksonville discovered Woodley lying in a pool of blood behind a stairwell with massive head and facial injuries. A sheet of paper had been placed on his chest, scrawled in green highlighter with the words: “PEDO Touches Children.”

An autopsy confirmed that Woodley died from multiple chop wounds to the head. Investigators described the crime scene as gruesome—blood was splattered across the walls and ground near the stairwell where his body was found. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

McGrew was later discovered inside a nearby apartment. Police obtained a search warrant and found a trail of bloody footprints leading to the bathroom, where they recovered a blood-covered metal hammer believed to be the murder weapon.

Officers also collected several bloodstained items from the apartment, including a pair of pink Crocs, a black tank top, and purple sweatpants. A pink notebook with loose paper and a green highlighter—the same kind used on the note left on the victim—was also seized.

McGrew was taken into custody and booked into the local jail later that day. No motive has been confirmed by authorities, and it’s unclear whether McGrew and Woodley knew each other prior to the attack.