TN - Michael & Shirley Gray, aggravated kidnap & child abuse, 2 children dead, Roane Co., May 2020

Tuesday, June 9th:
*Hearing for both (@ am CT) – TN – Heather “Sophie” Gray (11) (Died in 2017, Ten Mile, Roane County) & Jonathan Gray (Died 2015 or 2016, Halls, Knox County); 15 year old boy, 14 year old girl, & 10 year old boy - *Michael Anthony Gray, Sr. (63) arrested & charged (5/25/20) & arraigned (5/26/20) for aggravated child abuse, especially aggravated child abuse, aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, three counts aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse. $500K bond. Roane County
*Shirley Ann Gray (60) arrested & charged (5/25/20) & arraigned (5/26/20) for 2 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 2 counts of aggravated child abuse, 3 counts of aggravated child neglect & 1 count abuse of a corpse. $500K bond. Roane County
The couple's young daughter was confined to a basement for months & fed nothing but bread & water before she died in 2017. The child was then buried near a pole barn on the property. Their 4 children are a 15-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, a 11-year-old girl (who died), and a 10-year-old boy. The 15 year old boy had been confined to the basement in July of 2016 with no contact with anyone outside the basement until officials removed him on May 22, 2020. They are not the children's biological parents. Records show that the Grays did adopt 4 children in Knox County, one in 2007, one in 2008 & two in 2011. All those records are sealed. The 2 boys & the girl are all now in DCS custody. Authorities said all of them appeared "stunted in growth" & had likely not seen a doctor in years.
5/26/20 Update: Arraignment. Judge Terry Stephens said he was unable to accept a plea from Gray based on the nature of the charges, most of which are felonies. Judge set bond at $500K each. The suspects are expected to face more charges. Roane County District Attorney General Russell Johnson said the suspects waived their right to counsel in writing and that the three children had been interviewed. Next hearing on 6/9/20. Johnson said a Grand Jury hearing had been set in three weeks and that more information would be revealed. Investigators are now digging & searching house/backyard at Cedarbreeze Road in Halls in Knox County, which belongs to Gray’s son.
5/29/20 Update: Knox County authorities have recovered a boy's remains from the yard of a home shared by Michael & Shirley Gray & their family members on Cedarbreeze Road in Knox County, and the couple have continued to draw monetary benefits meant for the care of the dead child as well as another child whose body was found in Roane County. The child is thought to be Jonathan Gray, their adoptive son, and he's believed to have died in 2015 or 2016.
 
Records: Roane couple charged with abusing adopted kids had history of unpaid bills, bankruptcies

June 8, 2020
Michael and Shirley Gray also collected state support for years for two children who died in their custody in the 2010s, a court affidavit shows.

Article gives a history of the Grays.

I still don't understand where the fifth adopted child came from. This article, like others, states that they adopted four children in Knox County, but never mentions the fifth child.

It sounds like, from the statement by the DCS commissioner in the article, that my previous assumption about them adopting from the foster system is likely the case. So again.....how did they meet the requirements for foster placement and then adoption?
 
I still don't understand where the fifth adopted child came from. This article, like others, states that they adopted four children in Knox County, but never mentions the fifth child.

It sounds like, from the statement by the DCS commissioner in the article, that my previous assumption about them adopting from the foster system is likely the case. So again.....how did they meet the requirements for foster placement and then adoption?

I believe at the time the article was written Jonathan had not been discovered yet.

And GOOD question on how they met the requirements for foster placement & then the adoption.... I can't even imagine!!
 
There is no true justice here. Looking at the one pic, there is a tractor with some mowing done. How did it feel to breathe in the fresh air outside in the sun while you did this to these children? They need to be thrown in a 2' x 3' cell with a bucket and when their stomach acid churns and their eyeballs are so dry that it hurts to blink, so dry that they cannot cry any tears, throw them a crumb. I would take all those kids in a minute.
 
Bumping up - any news on what happened at the court hearing & when the next one may be? TIA!
When I google - I'm just getting older articles & have they been charged yet in Knox County?
TIA!
 
Any news on their next court hearing date? TIA! :)

A new court date was set for June 26, 2020 for 63-year-old Anthony Gray, Sr. and his wife, 60-year-old Shirley Gray. The two are facing numerous charges after the remains of a child, one of four non-biological children, was found buried on their property in Ten Mile in Roane County Memorial Day weekend. The case took a grisly turn a few days later when remains of another child was discovered buried at a home in Knox County the Grays used to live in.

Both remain in the Roane County jail under a $500,000 bond each.

NEW COURT DATE SET FOR COUPLE CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE AND ABUSE OF A CORPSE IN ROANE COUNTY
 
Friday, June 26th:
*Hearing (@ am CT) – TN – Heather “Sophie” Gray (11) (Died in 2017, Ten Mile, Roane County) & Jonathan Gray (Died 2015 or 2016, Halls, Knox County); 15 year old boy, 14 year old girl, & 10 year old boy - *Michael Anthony Gray, Sr. (63) arrested & charged (5/25/20) & arraigned (5/26/20) for aggravated child abuse, especially aggravated child abuse, aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, three counts aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse. $500K bond.
*Shirley Ann Gray (60) arrested & charged (5/25/20) & arraigned (5/26/20) for 2 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 2 counts of aggravated child abuse, 3 counts of aggravated child neglect & 1 count abuse of a corpse. $500K bond.
The couple's young daughter was confined to a basement for months & fed nothing but bread & water before she died in 2017. The child was then buried near a pole barn on the property. Their 4 children are a 15-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, a 11-year-old girl (who died), and a 10-year-old boy. The 15 year old boy had been confined to the basement in July of 2016 with no contact with anyone outside the basement until officials removed him on May 22, 2020. They are not the children's biological parents. Records show that the Grays did adopt 4 children in Knox County, one in 2007, one in 2008 & two in 2011. All those records are sealed. The 2 boys & the girl are all now in DCS custody. Authorities said all of them appeared "stunted in growth" & had likely not seen a doctor in years.
5/26/20 Update: Arraignment. Judge Terry Stephens said he was unable to accept a plea from Gray based on the nature of the charges, most of which are felonies. Judge set bond at $500K each. The suspects are expected to face more charges. Roane County District Attorney General Russell Johnson said the suspects waived their right to counsel in writing and that the three children had been interviewed. Next hearing on 6/9/20. Johnson said a Grand Jury hearing had been set in three weeks and that more information would be revealed. Investigators are now digging & searching house/backyard at Cedarbreeze Road in Halls in Knox County, which belongs to Gray’s son.
5/29/20 Update: Knox County authorities have recovered a boy's remains from the yard of a home shared by Michael & Shirley Gray & their family members on Cedarbreeze Road in Knox County, and the couple have continued to draw monetary benefits meant for the care of the dead child as well as another child whose body was found in Roane County. The child is thought to be Jonathan Gray, their adoptive son, and he's believed to have died in 2015 or 2016.
6/9/20 Update: Next hearing on 6/26/20 for both.
 
Horrific child death and abuse case heads to Roane County grand jury

June 26, 2020

KINGSTON, Tenn. - A Roane County couple linked to the deaths of two of their five adopted children waived their rights to preliminary hearings Friday in a horrific child abuse case spanning two counties.

Michael Anthony Gray Sr., 63, and his wife, Shirley Gray, 60, appeared briefly via videoconference from Roane County jail before Roane County General Sessions Court Judge Terry Stevens sent the case to a grand jury for review. They face charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect, especially aggravated kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.

Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson said after the proceeding that the next regularly scheduled meeting of the grand jury isn't until October, but county officials are looking into the possibility of calling a special session before that time.
[.....]
Prosecutors are still waiting for results of a DNA test to confirm the identity of the child.
[.....]
No charges have been filed in connection with the Knox County investigation. And no one has been charged with the death of either child, pending autopsy results.
 
Tenn. State Senator ‘Quite Troubled’ That DCS Pays Adoption Subsidies But Doesn’t Check On Adopted Children

State Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston) is on a mission to make sure the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) performs welfare checks on adopted children whose parents receive adoption subsidy payments from the state of Tennessee.

Sen. Yager became interested in the process and started communicating with DCS after investigators found the bodies of two adopted children on two different East Tennessee properties.

Michael and Shirley Gray are accused of abusing, starving and eventually burying two of their adopted children, according to warrants filed by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

A young girl, 13-year-old Sophie Heather Gray, was found buried behind a home in Roane County where the parents, Michael and Shirley Gray, lived with their four adopted children. A young boy, Jonathan Gray, was found buried behind a home in Knox County’s Halls neighborhood where the couple previously lived with their five adopted children and their biological adult son.

The couple has three surviving underage adopted children who have since been removed by the state. Investigators said some of those children detailed horrible living conditions like getting locked in cages and fed only bread and water for extended periods of time.

"I just don’t want this to ever happen again. It’s such an abhorrent crime. It’s hard not to get emotional when you talk about it, that two children were killed, and candidly, those who were living envied those who had died, when you consider the barbaric conditions in which they were imprisoned,"

“My mission is to fix a problem that I see in the current statutes that govern the adoption subsidy payments. I was just shocked by what I heard about the couple that adopted and then abused their former foster children that allegedly resulted in two deaths,” he told WVLT News Anchor Amanda Hara.

Sen. Yager said he plans to file legislation in January to ensure that DCS performs in-person welfare checks on any adopted child receiving subsidy payments."
 
Tenn. State Senator ‘Quite Troubled’ That DCS Pays Adoption Subsidies But Doesn’t Check On Adopted Children

State Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston) is on a mission to make sure the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) performs welfare checks on adopted children whose parents receive adoption subsidy payments from the state of Tennessee.

Sen. Yager became interested in the process and started communicating with DCS after investigators found the bodies of two adopted children on two different East Tennessee properties.

Michael and Shirley Gray are accused of abusing, starving and eventually burying two of their adopted children, according to warrants filed by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

A young girl, 13-year-old Sophie Heather Gray, was found buried behind a home in Roane County where the parents, Michael and Shirley Gray, lived with their four adopted children. A young boy, Jonathan Gray, was found buried behind a home in Knox County’s Halls neighborhood where the couple previously lived with their five adopted children and their biological adult son.

The couple has three surviving underage adopted children who have since been removed by the state. Investigators said some of those children detailed horrible living conditions like getting locked in cages and fed only bread and water for extended periods of time.

"I just don’t want this to ever happen again. It’s such an abhorrent crime. It’s hard not to get emotional when you talk about it, that two children were killed, and candidly, those who were living envied those who had died, when you consider the barbaric conditions in which they were imprisoned,"

“My mission is to fix a problem that I see in the current statutes that govern the adoption subsidy payments. I was just shocked by what I heard about the couple that adopted and then abused their former foster children that allegedly resulted in two deaths,” he told WVLT News Anchor Amanda Hara.

Sen. Yager said he plans to file legislation in January to ensure that DCS performs in-person welfare checks on any adopted child receiving subsidy payments."

Sen. Yager said he plans to file legislation in January to ensure that DCS performs in-person welfare checks on any adopted child receiving subsidy payments."

Pulled this out of your post.
All states should have this law on their books or be in the process of requiring it.

Here's a link to a chart of what each state pays in subsidies.

All States at-a-Glance
 
I don't know how I missed this one. Absolutely horrific. I didn't know that states paid adoption subsidies - I guess that's why these monsters adopted so many children. I have a friend who adopted a special needs child later in life, and she's an angel to that young woman who will never be able to hold a job or marry. And she's provided for her in the eventuality of her death. Those are the types of people who should be adopting, not these terrible people.
 

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