ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — A hearing for Michael Gray Sr. and his wife, Shirley Gray, has been postponed to resolve a legal question.
The Grays are charged with abusing and killing adoptive children. The case came to light in May 2020 after authorities were alerted about a wandering child near the Gray home in the Ten Mile community.
It led to the discovery of what appeared to be a child's remains on the Gray property and allegations that the Grays kept children locked in the basement and fed them a starvation diet while drawing thousands of dollars in state payments.
In notices filed in mid-December 2020, District Attorney General Russell Johnson notified Michael Gray Sr. and Shirley Gray that if they are convicted of first-degree murder, the state will seek to put them to death.
A judge postponed a court hearing early this month after Michael argued that the trial should be held outside of Roane County because of heavy pre-trial publicity and social media comments about the case. Because it is a constitutional argument, the state Attorney General's office has to be involved in it.
He said that he wouldn't be able to get a fair trial because any jury brought in from another county will know that the "case is so awful that they had to be bused in to hear the case," and would therefore have preconceived notions about whether he is guilty or innocent.
In the argument, he asked for the trial to be moved to either Shelby County or Davidson County. In court records, he claims at least 94 news stories were written about the case around the world.
Now, the court is waiting for a response from the office on how to proceed. According to court records, Gray is facing 42 counts including felony murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, aggravated kidnapping, falsification of records, theft and abuse of a corpse.