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Thread: Death Penalty Pursued For Michael Gray Sr And Shirley Gray For 2017 TN Murder of 10 Year Old Girl

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    Death Penalty Pursued For Michael Gray Sr And Shirley Gray For 2017 TN Murder of 10 Year Old Girl

    8EFBC56A-8C84-4923-A5C8-F7574CD5271D.jpg
    Michael and Shirley Gray


    DA to seek death penalty for Tennessee couple charged with abusing, killing adoptive children

    ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — Prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty for a Roane County couple accused in a horrific child abuse case that spanned two counties.

    In notices filed in mid-December, District Attorney Russell Johnson notified Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray that if they are convicted of first-degree murder, the state will seek to put them to death for their crimes.

    The couple entered not guilty pleas to charges of murder, child abuse, and kidnapping in Roane County in October. They face similar charges in Knox County including felony murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, abuse of a corpse, Tenncare fraud, and theft.

    The pair do not face the death penalty in Knox County.

    The case came to light in May after authorities were alerted about a wandering child near the Gray home in the Ten Mile community.

    It led to the discovery of what appeared to be a child's remains on the Gray property and allegations that the Grays kept children locked in the basement and fed them a starvation diet while drawing thousands of dollars in state payments.

    Shirley Gray and her husband Michael Gray have been held in jail since their arrest in May.

    The abuse is alleged to have happened over several years at the Grays' Dry Fork Valley Road home, records state.

    The indictments state the Grays killed a 10-year-old girl living in their home some time between January and March 2017. They are also charged with abusing her corpse.

    The documents don't name the child, whose remains were found in May 2020 buried on the Gray property.

    According to the grand jury, the two also subjected the same child to abuse and harm from June 2016 until her death in 2017.

    In addition, the couple is charged with abusing another unnamed child starting in June 2016 when the child was 6 years ago. That abuse was so bad it stunted the child's growth and led to "loss of physical function and severe psychological distress."

    The alleged abuse continued until Roane County authorities intervened and began investigating May 22, 2020, records state.

    The grand jury also alleges the Grays engaged in similar child abuse of another unnamed child who was age 11 when it began. That child also was subjected to ongoing harm that continued through May 2020.

    Michael and Shirley Gray also confined the children at times, resulting in the aggravated kidnapping counts, the grand jury alleges.

    They are also accused of falsifying educational records for the children from June 2016 to May 2020 while stating that they were homeschooling them.

    Lastly, the Grays face an indictment for the theft of $65,125 in state money. Authorities have said the two may have drawn payments for the adoptive children as a means to support themselves.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kho...b-86ad4ef6902a
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

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    Tennessee couple Michael, Shirley Gray who starved daughter to death and locked son for 4 years face execution
    March 5, 2021

    ROANE COUNTY, TENNESSEE: A Tennessee couple is facing the death penalty after they allegedly starved their 11-year-old adopted daughter to death for "stealing food" from the pantry while being locked up in the basement. Prosecutors will seek the death sentence for Shirley and Michael Gray Sr if either is found guilty of first-degree murder of their adopted daughter, Sophie Heather Gray.

    The victim's body was recovered by Roane County authorities in the backyard of the duo's Ten Mile neighborhood home on May 23. Prosecutors called the girl's murder "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it involved serious torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to cause death", as per court documents. District Attorney General Russell Johnson sent legal notices to Michael and Shirley in mid-December saying that the state will seek to put them to death if they are convicted of first-degree murder.

    Knox News obtained warrants in which deputies detailed how the Grays had locked the girl in their basement in 2017 to punish her for "stealing" food from the kitchen. Sophie Gray died a few months later and her adoptive father told investigators that he kept her body in a cardboard box before he buried her in the backyard.

    Now, the Grays face 42 charges each under accusations of child abuse that is said to have occurred during or after 2017 at their home. According to the District Attorney General's Office, the couple was indicted on "four counts of felony murder, eight counts of aggravated child abuse, eight counts of aggravated child neglect, nine counts of aggravated kidnapping, and six counts of especially aggravated kidnapping". Meanwhile, they also each face counts of "abuse of a corpse, charging theft, and falsification of educational or academic records".

    An investigation was launched after one of the Grays' adopted children was found walking alone on the roadside, per the outlet. When authorities returned the child to the family, Gray Sr reportedly told the Department of Child Services he had a 15-year-old child locked up in his basement while another was buried in his backyard. Authorities searched the house after obtaining an arrest warrant and found the 15-year-old boy in the home's unfinished and partially flooded basement. The entire home smelled of urine and feces, deputies noted in their paperwork, while the basement was full of garbage, mold, exposed wires and had no electricity, running water or bathroom.

    The Grays had locked the boy in the basement for four years and fed him only bread and water during that period to punish him for "stealing" food from the pantry and refrigerator. Deputies said at least one other child was kept inside a wire dog case in the basement from time to time. At some point, the Grays built a small concrete room — measuring less than 3 feet by 4 feet — in the basement for confining the children.

    Deputies also noted how the three children rescued from the home appeared "to be stunted in growth" and that none had received medical attention in at least six years. Shirley Gray told authorities the children were homeschooled. However, court documents noted how they were found "to have no formal education" and were "amazed by what a refrigerator does when they observed one in their foster home".

    As reported by Knox News, the couple, along with their adult son Michael Gray Jr, are also facing charges for the alleged child abuse and murder of another of their adopted children before they moved to Roane County. Detectives found the body of Jonathan Gray, who was around 8 years old at the time of his death, buried in the backyard of Gray Jr's residence off Cedarbreeze Road. According to Knoxville News Sentinel, the Grays adopted a total of five children. Three of them were rescued by the authorities, while Sophie and Jonathan were found dead.

    Furthermore, the Grays reportedly also face charges for Tenncare fraud and theft after they continued to collect anywhere between $15,000 and $61,000 in benefits from the state by keeping the children's deaths a secret.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/meaww.c...death-lock-son
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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    Son wants to be tried separately from parents in abuse, murder case involving adoptive children
    April 30, 2021


    KNOXVILLE, Tenn — A former Knox County man charged along with his parents with abusing several adopted children and killing one wants to be tried by himself.

    Michael Gray Jr., 40, claims the evidence against his parents Michael Sr., 64, and Shirley Gray, 61, is far more damning than it is against him. They've talked to investigators and admitted they're guilty, Gray Jr.'s lawyer states in court papers.

    It would hurt the son's defense to have to sit in the same trial with his parents, Gray Jr. argues.

    Attorney Scott Lanzon is seeking the severance on behalf of his client in Knox County Criminal Court.

    "The evidence against Michael Gray's co-defendants is very strong," Lanzon's motion to sever states.

    Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Nate Ogle, however, said the son should be tried with his parents because they were all in on the abuse together.

    Gray Jr., his father and his mother "engaged in a criminal conspiracy wherein each participant played different roles in the heinous acts perpetrated against the victims in this case as part of a common scheme or plan employed by the Gray family defendants -- abusing the adoption system for monetary gain," Ogle wrote in response to Gray Jr.'s bid.

    Knox County Criminal Court Judge Scott Green has not yet ruled on Gray Jr.'s request.

    Gray Jr. is charged only in Knox County. But his parents face prosecution in both Knox and Roane counties. In fact, District Attorney General Russell Johnson has filed notice he's ready to seek the death penalty against the elder Gray if the case goes to trial in Roane County.

    Authorities learned about the family's alleged crimes in May 2020 after one of the adoptive children, a boy, was found wandering on a Roane County road down from his home.

    Investigative interviews led to the discovery of the remains of an adoptive girl, Sophie Gray, on the Grays' property in the Ten Mile community of Roane County. Sophie is thought to have died in early 2017 after years of abuse and neglect.

    Authorities also discovered two other adoptive children in the home, one of whom, a boy, had been subjected to squalid living conditions and near starvation in the basement.

    As police spoke to the elder Grays, they learned the remains of another adoptive child, a boy named Jonathan, had been buried in the yard of the Grays' former home in Halls in Knox County.

    Jonathan is thought to have died in 2015 or 2016 while the adoptive parents and Gray Jr. were living in the Halls house. The elder Grays moved to Roane County in 2016, leaving Gray Jr. to live in the home.

    He was there in May 2020 when the Knox County Sheriff's Office descended on the home and found Jonathan Gray's remains.

    The parents are charged with Sophie Gray's murder and abuse of the other children in Roane County. They're also charged with murder and abuse, among other crimes, in Knox County.

    Michael Gray isn't charged in Roane County. In Knox County, he's charged in Jonathan's death and with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse among other counts.

    Lanzon argues having Gray Jr. go through a trial with his parents would taint the case against him.

    "The admissions by his (parents) are to heinous crimes against children including various forms of torture, beating and resulting murder," the defense argues. "Michael Gray is not alleged to have perpetrated any of the acts that his co-defendants admit to committing."

    Ogle said in his response that the parents actually have not implicated their son in their alleged crimes. They mostly implicated themselves.

    "There were very limited questions at all about Michael Anthony Gray Jr. at that time because his involvement in the criminal conspiracy was more concretely established after the questioning of his parents was completed through the statements of two of the surviving victims, text messages uncovered between Shirley Gray and Michael Anthony Gray Jr., the fruits of the search of his home and the fruits of the search of his financial records," Ogle wrote.

    The three surviving children were removed from the home. The three Grays are being held in jail.

    The family profited off and lived off adopting children and getting public payments for their care, Ogle alleges.

    Jonathan Gray's "torturous, neglectful death" and the suffering imposed on his siblings is a sad byproduct of the family's plan, Ogle alleges.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wbi...4-8766c51f9c65
    Last edited by Bobsicles; 06-24-2021 at 09:25 PM.
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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    Couple accused of abuse, murder of adopted children faces new charges in Knox County
    November 5, 2021

    An East Tennessee family accused of starving and abusing several adopted children until two of them died face new charges in Knox County.

    A Knox County grand jury last month charged Michael Anthony Gray Sr., 63; his wife, Shirley Gray, 60; and their son, Michael Anthony Gray Jr., 40, in the death of the elder couple's adopted son, Johnathan Gray, whose body was found buried in the backyard of a home in Halls. The boy was no more than eight years old, according to court records.

    The Grays each face two counts of felony murder, one count of abuse of a corpse, seven counts of aggravated child abuse and seven counts of aggravated child neglect.

    The trio allegedly abused four young children, including by feeding them a starvation diet and keeping them in cages, at the home in Halls that the Grays shared, a detective wrote in a search warrant. After Johnathan Gray died, Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray moved to a home in Roane County, where investigators said they continued to abuse the surviving children until another child, Sophie Heather Gray, died.

    Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray face similar charges, including felony murder, in Roane County. In Knox County, they also are charged with TennCare fraud and theft. The couple kept the children's deaths secret and continued to collect between $15,000 and $61,000 in benefits from the state, according to court records.

    Shirley and Michael Gray Jr. were arraigned on the charges Thursday. Gray Sr. is scheduled for arraignment Friday.

    The Knox County charges are related to alleged abuse that occurred before 2017 at a home the couple was sharing with Gray Jr. off Cedarbreeze Road in Halls. These new charges are on top of a 42-count indictment in an ongoing case in Roane County.

    Knox County authorities found Johnathan Gray's body on May 29 at the Halls home, after Roane County authorities recovered the body of Sophie Heather Gray in the backyard of the Ten Mile home on May 23.

    Deputies said Sophie was about 11 years old at the time of her death.

    In Roane County, the adoptive parents each face 42 charges for alleged abuse that occurred during or after 2017 at their home on Dry Fork Valley Road in the Ten Mile Community.

    The couple was indicted on four counts of felony murder, eight counts of aggravated child abuse, eight counts of aggravated child neglect, nine counts of aggravated kidnapping and six counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, according to the Ninth District Attorney General's Office. They also each face counts of abuse of a corpse, charging theft and falsification of educational or academic records.

    According to warrants previously obtained by Knox News, Roane County deputies began investigating the Grays after one of their adopted children was found walking alone on the roadside near their home.

    After authorities returned the child, Gray Sr. told the Department of Child Services he had a 15-year-old-child in his basement and another buried in his backyard.

    Arrest warrants detailed authorities search of the house, which deputies said smelled of urine and feces, and their rescue of the Grays' three surviving adopted children.

    Deputies found the 15-year-old boy in the home's unfinished and partially flooded basement, which had no electricity, running water or bathroom. The basement was full of human and animal feces, garbage, mold and exposed wires.

    Deputies said the Grays had locked the boy down there for four years, feeding him only bread and water, as punishment for "stealing" food from the pantry and refrigerator.

    Deputies said Sophie, the girl they found buried in the home's backyard, had also been locked in the basement in 2017 as punishment for eating food in the kitchen, and died after a few months.

    Gray Sr. allegedly told deputies he kept Sophie's body in a cardboard box before burying her in the back yard.

    At least one other child periodically was kept inside a wire dog cage in the basement before the Grays built a small concrete room, measuring less than 3 feet by 4 feet, under the stairs for confinement, according to the warrants.

    The three children rescued from the Grays' care appeared "to be stunted in growth," according to deputies, and none had received medical attention in at least six years.

    Shirley Gray claimed the children were homeschooled, but deputies said the children appeared "to have no formal education," and that they were "amazed by what a refrigerator does when they observed one in their foster home."

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kno...amp/6173001002
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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