On New Year's Day in 2006, the city of Richmond, Virginia, was shaken by a horrific discovery that marked the beginning of a seven-day crime spree. Four-year-old Ruby Harvey, along with her nine-year-old sister Stella, and their parents, Kathryn and Bryan Harvey, were found murdered in the basement of their burning home. The family had been bound, beaten, and their throats had been cut.
The official cause of death for Ruby was stab wounds to her back.
The perpetrators, Ricky Javon Gray and his nephew, Ray Joseph Dandridge, had entered the Harvey's home through an open door on the morning of January 1st. After subjecting the family to hours of terror, they stole a laptop, a wedding ring, and a basket of cookies before setting the house on fire in an attempt to conceal the crime. A friend arriving for a planned chili dinner discovered the fire and alerted the authorities. The brutality of the murders sent shockwaves through the community, as Bryan Harvey was a well-known local musician, and his wife Kathryn was the co-owner of a popular toy store.
Within days of the Harvey family murders, Gray and Dandridge, with the help of an accomplice named Ashley Baskerville, committed another triple homicide, killing Baskerville and her mother and stepfather. This second crime spree ultimately led to their capture. Following their arrests, both men were charged with multiple counts of capital murder.
Ray Dandridge pleaded guilty to the murders of the Baskerville-Tucker family and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Ricky Gray faced trial for the murders of the Harvey family. His defense team argued that his actions were influenced by a history of abuse and drug use. In August 2006, a jury found Gray guilty on five counts of capital murder. He was sentenced to death for the murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey and received a life sentence for the murders of their parents. After numerous appeals, Ricky Gray was executed by lethal injection on January 18, 2017.
