On the evening of November 17, 2019, 51-year-old James Storey, a male employee of B & G Products, was fatally shot in Wichita, Kansas. After spending several hours playing pool at Southrock Billiards and Sports Bar, he went out to his truck to leave at approximately 6:45 p.m. It was at this point that another pickup truck, which had been seen in the parking lot earlier, returned and parked next to Storey's vehicle. Multiple shots were then fired into the driver's side of Storey's truck.
Responding officers found Storey inside his pickup with multiple bullet wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later confirmed that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The investigation into James Storey's death initially left police without a clear suspect. A breakthrough in the case came when Storey's father contacted authorities after seeing a news report that mentioned police were looking for a black Dodge Ram truck in connection with the shooting. He informed the police that a man named William Lee Gray drove such a vehicle and had ongoing issues with his son. This animosity stemmed from the fact that Gray was in a relationship with the mother of Storey's two children. Storey reportedly did not want Gray, a registered sex offender, to be around his kids.
Following this lead, Wichita police arrested 45-year-old William Lee Gray on December 31, 2019. He was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder. Investigators determined that a pickup driven by Gray had parked next to Storey's truck before the shooting. Originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder, Gray later pleaded guilty to amended charges of voluntary manslaughter and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle. In November 2021, a judge sentenced William Lee Gray to 241 months, which is just over 20 years, in prison for the killing of James Storey.
