Couple accused of abuse, murder of adopted children faces new charges in Knox County
BRITTANY CROCKER | Knoxville News Sentinel
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.
Couple also charged in Roane County case for separate abuse incidents
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.
What authorities found in Roane County
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."