JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman who pleaded guilty in the gruesome murder of a 41-year-old man she claimed groomed her from childhood was sentenced to 45 years in prison Monday with credit for 411 days of time served.
The hearing lasted only a few minutes.
McGrew was sentenced to 5 years with credit for 411 days of time served on the charge of tampering with evidence.
She was sentenced to 45 years with credit for 411 days of time served on the charge of second-degree murder.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Sentencing was originally scheduled to happen last month, but Judge Lindsay Tygart said that the court needed more time to review the materials and testimony presented in the case before giving a sentence.
“The court has been presented with an extensive amount of materials of evidence of testimony that the court is required to consider...the court is going to take a bit of time to re-review the materials and the evidence has been presented in the case not just today, but candidly from our prior hearings...,” Tygart said.
In an earlier sentencing hearing, Journee McGrew, 22, told the court that Waduta Woodley, whom she had known since she was a child, molested her multiple times for years, starting when she was in elementary school.
Woodley’s blood-soaked body was discovered by police in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Jacksonville’s Westside in July 2025.
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McGrew was arrested that same day in connection with the discovery and charged with murder and concealing evidence.
McGrew originally pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. She later changed her plea to guilty in December 2025, and has been awaiting sentencing ever since.
McGrew’s mother takes the stand, reads statements from family
On July 31, McGrew’s mother, Jennifer Owens, took the stand and read prepared statements from McGrew’s brothers who could not attend in person. They described McGrew as a gentle person who has shown care for others and never hesitated to help.
Her older brother, Victor McGrew, who she was living with at the time of the incident, said that Journee McGrew was motivated and goal-oriented and was passionate about becoming a dental assistant.
“The conversations were always about getting ahead in life. Being a strong individual and conquering her mental health struggles. She was here with me and would always tell me about her dreams and aspirations and all the things she wanted to do in life,” Victor McGrew said in a prepared statement.
He also said he watched over her because he knew how vulnerable she is.
“This is the absolute last thing I would expect for my sister,” the statement continued. “I knew that she was struggling with her mental health. People have assaulted her, took advantage of her vulnerability and it took a toll on her mind. I’m in no way trying to justify her actions. I urge the court to consider the things she struggled with.”
Owens said her daughter was diagnosed with schizophrenia disorder, bipolar disorder and PTSD and witnessed her get treatment for it.
The state argued that McGrew didn’t tell her mother about the alleged abuse until 2024, and they never went to the police about it.
Dr. Kathrin Ritter is a clinical neuropsychologist who helped treat McGrew. She talked about how the multiple disorders may have affected her decision-making.
“At the time of the event, she maintained some understanding, but her judgment, her ability to regulate her behavior, her ability to manage impulses, her threat perception, her ability to think and reason through consequences of behavior. All of that was significantly diminished,” Ritter said.
State recommends life sentence
The state recommended a life sentence for McGrew.
“McGrew decided last year to be judge, jury, and executioner. She decided she was going to take the law into her own hands. She decided to be a vigilante, to be retaliatory and to impose a sentence,” the state said.
The prosecutor said that McGrew didn’t call the police about the abuse, but she told her family years later. She also argued that because of her conditions, she needs to be under constant medication and the only way for her to do that is to be incarcerated.
“She has indicated that when she feels paranoid and delusional, this defendant responds in acts of violence,” the prosecutor said. “Any sort of probation or community release that allows her to go off of her medication allows her to become a danger to the public at large.”
Defense recommends reasonable sentence to be released
The defense said that because of her mental conditions and Ritter’s testimony that McGrew’s thought process was disorganized because of them, the court should consider a reasonable sentence so that she can continue treatment.
“Her cognitive reasoning was impaired to the point where it affected her decision making in this case [Ritter] describes her behavior as self-preservation due to those delusions and due to her diseases,” the defense said.
Her lawyer said that she is currently being treated while she’s in jail and should be offered an opportunity to re-enter society.
“She has an opportunity to heal from the illness in part, that Mr. Woodley caused her and because of that I’m just asking this court to sentence Ms. McGrew to a reasonable sentence where she will have the opportunity to be released.”
What she claims
McGrew testified during a sentencing hearing in April that she was diagnosed with psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder when she was Baker Acted before the murder.
Watch her full testimony below:
McGrew said she hit Woodley multiple times with a hammer after she lured him to her apartment by saying she wanted to have sex.
McGrew said it wasn’t her plan to have sex or to kill Woodley, but instead to collect evidence of his alleged abuse that could be used against him.
“This was not supposed to happen. I really wasn’t in my right mind when this happened. I’m not violent, and I’m sorry for this situation,” she said in a message to the courtroom.
Woodley’s mother spoke on behalf of her son.
“Everything changed in a second when your only son has been murdered,” his mother said in court. “Yes, this has affected my family, my daughter, my granddaughter [...] We don’t know how to cope.”
When McGrew was asked if she had a message for the family, she responded:
“I am sorry about what I did,” McGrew said. “I know how much I impacted your family and mine. I’m really sorry for what happened.”
The killing
According to her arrest report, Jacksonville police were called to the Cross Creek Apartment complex on July 2, 2025, about a dispute.
When officers arrived, they found Woodley suffering from what appeared to be blunt force trauma to his head and face. Woodley was lying on the ground in front of McGrew’s apartment.
According to the arrest report, Woodley had a white piece of paper on his chest that read, “PEDO Touches Children.” The writing was in green ink from a green highlighter.
Officers ordered McGrew to come out of her apartment, and she complied. As she was being detained, the report said she asked if Woodley was still alive.
After a search warrant was obtained for McGrew’s apartment, police went inside and found bloody footprints leading from the front door to the bathroom.
According to the arrest report, when officers entered McGrew’s bathroom, they found a metal hammer in the sink. Officers discovered blood on the hammer’s handle. The sink drain plug was later found in McGrew’s bedroom. The arrest report states that the liquid found on the drain plug tested positive for blood.
The arrest report also states that police found a pair of pink Crocs slippers covered in blood, along with a tank top and a pair of pants that were also covered in blood. The search also turned up a notebook with loose paper and a green highlighter.
McGrew told investigators that Woodley had been sexually grooming her since she was 8 years old and had sexually assaulted her multiple times, the report said.
The report went on to say that on July 1, she sent Woodley a text, saying that she had been sexually fantasizing about him and regretted treating him poorly. That night, she invited him to her apartment, according to the report.
McGrew told police that by 1 a.m., Woodley pressured her to have sex, which she denied him and asked him to leave. She said as they were leaving the room toward the front entrance, she grabbed a hammer and hid it behind her back.
The report said that when the two got to the front doorway, Woodley grabbed her in a non-forceful manner, and that’s when she began hitting him with the hammer.
Police asked her if she had invited Woodley over with plans to kill him, but her response was redacted from the arrest report.
News4JAX conducted a criminal background check on Woodley and could not find any criminal offenses related to sexually assaulting or abusing children.
McGrew said she never reported the alleged abuse because she lived with Woodley and feared being kicked out. She also testified she told friends when she was young, but didn’t share with her family or doctors until she was in her 20s.