In a tragic turn of events that was part of a wider crime spree, Percyell Tucker, a 55-year-old African-American male, was found deceased in his Richmond, Virginia, home on January 6, 2006. He was discovered alongside his wife, Mary Baskerville-Tucker, and her 21-year-old daughter, Ashley Baskerville. All three victims were found bound, and their home on East Broad Rock Road had been ransacked.
Percyell, a forklift driver, and his wife had their throats slashed, and all three victims had duct tape wrapped around their heads, leading to their suffocation.
The investigation into the triple homicide quickly connected the crime to another recent and brutal murder of the Harvey family in Richmond just days earlier. The perpetrators were identified as Ricky Jovan Gray and his nephew, Ray Joseph Dandridge. It was later revealed that Ashley Baskerville had been an accomplice to Gray and Dandridge in the earlier crimes before she too became a victim. The duo's motive appeared to be robbery. A tip led law enforcement to Philadelphia, where they located and arrested Gray and Dandridge on January 7, 2006.
Following their apprehension, both men confessed to their roles in the crime spree. Ray Joseph Dandridge was charged with three counts of capital murder for the deaths of Percyell Tucker, Mary Baskerville-Tucker, and Ashley Baskerville. In September 2006, Dandridge entered into a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ricky Gray was also charged in connection with the crime spree and ultimately faced capital murder charges for the Harvey family killings. He was convicted and sentenced to death and was executed in January 2017.
