A Kentucky jury took just 20 minutes Tuesday to convict a 33-year-old man of murder following his arrest last year in Mt. Vernon, where police found he was also with four children listed in an Amber Alert. Richard Gray was subsequently sentenced Wednesday morning to life in prison.
Mt. Vernon police arrested Gray last February at the Mach 1 gas station on 42nd Street, where he was reportedly involved in a fight with another man.
After running the registration on Gray’s vehicle, law enforcement learned of the Amber Alert posting on the vehicle that house four endangered children and was possibly being driven by a murder suspect from Bardstown, KY.
Despite Gray providing officers with a false identity, officers were able to determine his actual identity and that he was wanted out of Kentucky on first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend and then fleeing the area with the four boys. The youngest of the boys was his son with the murder victim; the others were his sons with other women.
He reportedly tied up the victim’s daughter and left her behind. The 6-year-old girl was able to get loose and call 9-1-1 after finding her mom dead on the kitchen floor.
Before being returned to Kentucky, Gray was charged in Jefferson County Court with felony offenses for possessing a stolen firearm, aggravated battery in a public place, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and obstruction of justice. Those charges have been dismissed in expectation of a lengthy sentence in Kentucky.