Roane-Knox County child abuse case: Trial date set for Michael Gray Jr.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A trial date for Michael Gray Jr., the son of accused Roane County couple Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray in the abuse and deaths of adopted children after remains were found in 2020, has been set for next year in Knox County.
Michael Gray Jr. is facing charges in connection to the Roane-Knox County child abuse cases after the remains of a child were found at a Knox County home previously owned by him; the skeletal remains of another child were initially found at a Roane County home owned by the older Grays in May 2020.
The trial date for Michael Gray Jr. was set for February 13, 2023. A status hearing for all three Grays—Michael Gray Sr., Shirley Gray and Michael Gray Jr.—is scheduled for Sept. 30.
None of the defendants were present in court Friday but were instead represented by their attorneys.
Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray face more than 60 charges between Roane and Knox County in connection to the death of their adopted 8-year-old son and for allegedly abusing several other children in their home. The couple’s son, Michael Gray Jr. is facing charges in connection to this case in Knox County. He faces 17 charges in the death of the 8-year-old.
The remains of the first child were found on Saturday, May 23, 2020 at a home on Dryfork Valley Road in Kingston after the Roane County Sheriff’s Office was called May 22, 2020 to a neighboring home for a child found wandering. When deputies arrived at the Gray residence, the parents of the wandering child, Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray, were not aware that the child had been out of the residence. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services was called to the home; soon after, Michael Gray Sr. went with DCS to its Kingston office and, according to a police report, told them there was a 15-year-old child in the basement of the home and another child had been buried in the backyard of the home. Investigators were later shown the location of the buried child.
The remains of the second child were recovered at the second Gray home—located on Cedarbreeze Road in the Halls area of Knox County—within the following days. Officials announced on Friday, May 29 that another child’s skeletal remains had been found in the backyard of the home. Michael Gray Sr., Shirley Gray and Michael Gray Jr. had all resided at the home together some three or four years ago, according to investigators.
All three Grays are scheduled to appear for a status hearing in September 2022.