Child abuse case against Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray: What we know
TRAVIS DORMAN | Knoxville News Sentinel
An East Tennessee husband and wife are charged with locking children in their basement, giving them little food and water and burying a girl in their backyard after she died.
Michael Anthony Gray Sr., 63, and his wife, Shirley Ann Gray, 60, face charges in a horrific child abuse case involving at least four of their non-biological children.
The couple face two counts of aggravated child abuse, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, three counts of aggravated child neglect and one count of abuse of a corpse. Authorities expect more charges will be filed.
Here's what we know so far about the ongoing investigation into the family.
What spurred the investigation?
The investigation began the evening of May 22 when passers-by told authorities they found a child walking alone along the road near the Grays' family home in Ten Mile. Ten Mile is a small community in Roane County that sits 55 miles southwest of Knoxville.
A caller reported that "someone dropped a little boy off and he doesn't know (where his) parents are or where he's at," arrest warrants read.
Roane County Sheriff's Office deputies responded, found the boy and learned he lived at the Grays' home on Dry Fork Valley Road in Ten Mile. The Grays moved into the home with four minor children, of whom they had legal custody, in June 2016.
Deputies took the boy home and called the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Michael Gray Sr. then traveled to the department's office in Kingston and told officials he had a 15-year-old child in his basement, and that another child was buried in the backyard, according to the warrants.
Michael Gray Sr. waived his right to remain silent, gave the same information to sheriff's investigators and signed a document saying they could search his property. He agreed to give two Roane County Sheriff's Office investigators a tour of his home that night, according to the warrants.
What did investigators find at the home?
The entire house smelled of urine and feces, deputies wrote in arrest warrants.
The basement was unfinished and partially flooded. It lacked electricity and running water. It had no bathroom. It was full of human and animal feces — one cage contained a guinea pig — as well as garbage, mold and exposed wires.
A 15-year-old boy, the oldest of the four children, was still in the basement and apparently had been kept there for four years. He was locked in the basement in 2016 as punishment for "stealing" food from the pantry and refrigerator, according to the warrants. He was given only bread and water.
In early 2017, a girl who was about 11 years old was locked in the basement, also as punishment for "stealing" food. She died within a few months after being given only bread and water, according to the warrants.
Michael Gray Sr. said he kept the girl's body in a cardboard box and later buried her in a pole barn in the backyard. Deputies found human bones there early May 23, and the remains were taken to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center for an autopsy.
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 arrest warrants.
The warrants are based largely on interviews conducted over two and a half days with the three surviving children and the Grays, both of whom repeatedly waived their right to remain silent.
How are the surviving children?
The three surviving children were taken into the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.
Authorities have not released much information about the conditions of the children. Two are boys, the third a girl.
Deputies wrote in the warrants that the children "appear to be stunted in growth." None of the children had received medical attention in at least six years.
Shirley Gray — who was fully aware of the conditions the children lived in, according to the warrants — claimed the children were home-schooled.
"(Two of the children) appear to have no formal education," according to the warrants, "and were, in fact, amazed by what a refrigerator does when they observed one in their foster home."
How is Knox County connected?
Authorities in Knox County have been investigating a home in the Halls neighborhood that is owned by an adult son of the Grays, Michael Anthony Gray Jr.
Knox County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn confirmed the agency first went to the home on Cedarbreeze Road on May 23. Investigators returned to the home Thursday.
Authorities worked into the afternoon removing bags of evidence, electronic devices and paperwork from the house. Three deputies stood watch at the front door as officials worked in the backyard. The Roane County Sheriff’s Office also was on scene.
As of Thursday, none of the agencies involved had commented further about the investigation at the Knox County home. No new charges had been announced.
Investigators left the home around 3:30 p.m. Then Michael Gray Jr., who had been coming and going from the house throughout the day, packed up a vehicle and drove away.
What happens next?
Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson oversees prosecutions in Roane County. He said more charges are expected against Shirley Gray and Michael Gray Sr. once the autopsy on the human remains is complete and a cause of death is determined.
Authorities have not said whether separate charges may be filed in Knox County.
Shirley and Michael Gray Sr. each remained jailed Thursday on a $500,000 bond.
A preliminary hearing in the case tentatively has been set for June 9.
Email Travis Dorman at travis.dorman@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @travdorman.