In a quiet Ridgeland, Mississippi home on a Sunday afternoon in April 2019, a family tragedy unfolded, leaving one man dead and his son accused of his murder. Henry Lee Gray, a 67-year-old male, was found on his living room floor with several gunshot wounds to his chest. The fatal shooting, which occurred on April 14, 2019, cut short the life of a man who would be laid to rest at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Newton, MS.
The primary suspect in the death of Henry Lee Gray was
identified by police as his 39-year-old son, Robert Lee Shelton. According to Ridgeland's police chief at the time, interviews with family members on the scene quickly pointed to Shelton as the person responsible for the shooting. In the immediate aftermath, Shelton fled the scene, prompting a search for his whereabouts.
The manhunt for Robert Lee Shelton was swift. He was located and taken into custody in Belzoni, Mississippi, a town roughly 80 miles northwest of the crime scene. Following his apprehension, Shelton was charged with the murder of his father. While the devastating outcome of the domestic dispute was clear, the motive for the fatal shooting was not immediately disclosed by investigators.
