In the autumn of 2014, the life of 31-year-old Walter Gray came to a violent end on a Lexington, Kentucky street. On the afternoon of November 16th, police responded to the area near Warnock and Goodloe streets to find Gray lying in the road with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he died a few hours later.
His death marked the city's 16th homicide of the year.
The investigation into Gray's death led to the arrests of three men. Devin Marquell Jones, 26, and Terrico Walter Williams, 23, were charged with murder. A third suspect, 23-year-old Eyron Jamar Smith, was also charged with murder in connection with Gray's death. Smith's arrest came after a car and foot chase with University of Kentucky police. During the pursuit, officers discovered a handgun and drugs in his vehicle. In addition to the murder charge, Smith faced a host of other charges, including fleeing and evading police, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, and drug trafficking.
Walter Gray's life was one marked by a history of violence. A decade prior to his own murder, he was convicted of the 2003 shooting death of Andrea Tiller during a drug deal. He was initially sentenced to a lengthy prison term for that crime. However, after a series of appeals, his murder conviction was ultimately amended, and he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. This led to his release in December 2012 after having served his time. At the time of his death, Gray was once again entangled with the legal system, awaiting trial on charges of trafficking cocaine and synthetic marijuana, as well as possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
