2006 Richmond spree murders

The 2006 Richmond spree murders took place during a seven-day period in January 2006 in and around Richmond, Virginia, United States; seven people, four members of the Harvey family and three members of the Baskerville-Tucker family, were killed. The perpetrators were Ricky Javon Gray (March 9, 1977 – January 18, 2017) and his nephew Ray Joseph Dandridge (born January 24, 1977). Dandridge's girlfriend Ashley Baskerville assisted the pair as an accomplice during their murder and robbery spree until she became one of their victims. After Gray and Dandridge were arrested, two prior murders, including that of Gray's wife, and a near-fatal assault in late 2005 were linked to the men.

2006 Richmond spree murders
Booking photos of Ray Dandridge and Ricky Gray
LocationRichmond, Virginia, United States
DateJanuary 1–6, 2006
Attack type
Home invasion, robbery, spree killing, mass murder, arson
WeaponHammer, knife, plastic bag and duct tape
Deaths7
PerpetratorsRicky Gray
Ray Dandridge

Dandridge pleaded guilty to murdering the three Baskerville-Tucker victims in exchange for receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Gray was charged with capital murder in connection with the Harvey family killings, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey, who were aged 9 and 4, respectively. Gray's execution was carried out on January 18, 2017, at 9:42 PM by lethal injection.

Crimes preceding the murder spree

Murder of Treva Gray
Treva Gray

On November 5, 2005, the badly beaten body of 35-year-old Treva Terrell Gray was found in a shallow grave next to Brookside Avenue in Washington, Pennsylvania, by a passerby. She had married Gray, a 28-year-old former convict, approximately six months before, and lived with her husband in a house owned by her family; Dandridge, his nephew, had moved in with the couple following his release from prison on October 26, 2005, after serving more than 10 years for armed robbery.

According to Treva's parents, the Grays fought bitterly, and they saw claw marks on Ricky's forearm the day Treva's body was found.[1] While both Gray and Dandridge were interviewed by the Washington police, they were not considered suspects. Treva's mother, Marna Squires, alleges that the police were lax in investigating the death and suggested that Treva had died of a drug overdose.[2] While the police ruled her death suspicious at the time, no homicide investigation was launched until after Gray's confession.

Approximately a week after the discovery of their daughter's body, Treva's parents evicted Dandridge from their property; Dandridge then moved in with his father in West Philadelphia. On December 23, Gray moved out as well to stay with his maternal grandmother in Arlington, Virginia. Dandridge left Philadelphia on Christmas Day to join Gray.[3]

Attack on Ryan Carey

On December 31, 2005, 26-year-old Ryan Carey was attacked by two men he later identified as Gray and Dandridge in front of his parents' home in the 5100 block of North 25th Street in Arlington. Carey sustained extensive beating and stab wounds to the chest, neck and arms in a near-fatal assault, and spent the next two weeks in a coma. He also permanently lost the use of his right arm.[4]

Murder spree

The Harvey family
The Harvey family: left to right, Ruby, Stella, Kathryn, and Bryan

In the early afternoon of January 1, 2006, the bodies of Kathryn, Bryan, Stella, and Ruby Harvey, were found dead in the basement of their burning house in the Woodland Heights district of Richmond, Virginia. The family of four had been beaten with a claw hammer, slashed, had their throats slit, and bound with electrical cord and tape.

Kathryn Elizabeth "Kathy" Harvey (née Grabinsky) (November 28, 1966 – January 1, 2006), 39, was the co-owner of a popular local toy shop called World of Mirth in Richmond's Carytown district, and was the half-sister of actor Steven Culp. Her husband Bryan Taber Harvey (April 27, 1956 – January 1, 2006), 49, was the lead singer/guitarist of House of Freaks, a two-man college rock band. Their daughters Stella Ann (November 3, 1996 – January 1, 2006) and Ruby May (July 4, 2001 – January 1, 2006) were 9 and 4, respectively. Bryan and Kathryn died of blunt-force trauma to the head, Stella of smoke inhalation and blunt-force trauma to the head, and Ruby of stab wounds to her back, one of which punctured her lung.[5]

Johnny Hott, Bryan's friend who was the drummer in House of Freaks, called 9-1-1 after noticing that the Harvey household had been set on fire.[6][7]

Chesterfield home invasion

On January 3, 2006, a couple living on Hollywood Drive in Chesterfield County, Virginia, were robbed by two men and a woman who had gained entry to their house by pretending to ask for directions. The robbers stole several items including a computer and a television, as well as $800 in cash. The husband was able to dissuade the gang from tying them up by drawing attention to the wife's disability and his need to assist her.

The Baskerville-Tucker family
Top: Mary Baskerville-Tucker and Percyell Tucker; Bottom: Ashley Baskerville, who was Gray and Dandridge's accomplice and eventual victim

On January 6, 2006, the police received a call from a Chesterfield resident who was concerned about her daughter's friend, 21-year-old Ashley Baskerville. The caller suspected that Gray and Dandridge, her former houseguests and former and current boyfriends of Ashley, were involved in the Harvey murders. The police found items at the Chesterfield home linked to the Harvey case, and stormed the house on East Broad Rock Road where Ashley lived with her mother, 46-year-old Mary Baskerville-Tucker, and her stepfather, 55-year-old Percyell Tucker. Percyell worked as a forklift driver and Mary was employed at a dry cleaning establishment. All three members of the Baskerville-Tucker family were found dead, gagged and bound with tape in their ransacked house. Percyell and Mary had also been slashed across the throat. The three had suffocated due to the layers of duct tape wrapped around their heads. Ashley had a plastic bag wrapped around her head as well, secured with duct tape.[8]

Arrest and confessions

On the morning of January 7, 2006, Gray and Dandridge were arrested in Philadelphia, where Dandridge's father Ronald Wilson lived. Approximately one hour after the arrest, Dandridge confessed to killing the Tuckers and Ashley Baskerville.[9] Twelve hours after the arrest, Gray asked to speak with a detective, then proceeded to provide a detailed, three-page confession in which he described using a kitchen knife and claw hammer to kill the Harveys, stating "I don't believe sorry is strong enough. None of this was necessary."[10] In subsequent confessions, he admitted to beating his wife Treva to death while Dandridge held her down, to being an accomplice in the Tucker-Baskerville murders, and to the attack on Ryan Carey.[11][12]

On January 8, 2006, the police formally identified Ashley Baskerville as a participant in the Harvey murders, the Chesterfield robbery, and the robbery at her own home; this came as a result of the above confessions as well as eyewitness testimony and other evidence.[13] Baskerville had acted as the lookout in the parked car while Gray and Dandridge entered the Harvey home, and she was found wearing Bryan Harvey's wedding band.[14] Gray and Dandridge testified that Baskerville had posed as a victim and allowed herself to be bound as a part of the plan to rob her mother and stepfather, but "things just went wrong"[15] and Gray "got tired of the girl, so he decided to kill her and take her parents' car".[9]

Court proceedings
Ricky Gray
Born
Ricky Javon Gray

(1977-03-09)March 9, 1977
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 2017(2017-01-18) (aged 39)
Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
Criminal chargeCapital murder
PenaltyDeath
Ray Dandridge
Born
Ray Joseph Dandridge

(1977-01-24) January 24, 1977
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Criminal statusIncarcerated at Keen Mountain Correctional Center
Criminal chargeCapital murder
PenaltyLife without parole

Both Gray and Dandridge were prosecuted in the City of Richmond Circuit Court in Virginia. On February 9, 2006, Gray was charged with five counts of capital murder in the Harvey killings: one charge for killing more than once in a three-year period, one charge for committing more than one killing in a single act, one charge for killing in commission of a robbery, and two charges for killing a child under 14 years of age. On the same day, Dandridge was charged with three counts of capital murder in the Tucker-Baskerville killings; the third count was later amended to include Dandridge's role in the Harvey killings.[16]

Dandridge initially pleaded not guilty and was tried in September 2006, but prior to closing arguments, he changed his plea to guilty on the three counts of capital murder as part of an agreement to receive a sentence of life in prison without parole.[16][17] He is currently incarcerated at the Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Oakwood, Virginia, designated inmate number 1159354.[18]

Gray pleaded not guilty, and his defense team sought leniency by presenting evidence of physical and sexual abuse during childhood as well as PCP use during the commission of the crimes.[4] In August 2006, a jury found Gray guilty on five capital murder charges after four days of trial and 30 minutes of deliberation.[15] The jury recommended that Gray receive the death penalty for the murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey, and life in prison for the three remaining charges.[19] On October 23, 2006, Gray was sentenced to death.[20]

In December 2006, Culpeper County also indicted Gray for the murder of Sheryl Warner, a 37-year-old legal secretary and mother of three, found shot and hanged by an electrical cord in the basement of her burning house in the town of Reva.[21] Gray pleaded not guilty.[22][23] On June 4, 2008, the charge was suspended due to contradictory evidence.[24]

Between May 2011 and November 2015, Gray's execution was set and then stayed pending his various appeals in commonwealth and federal courts.[25][26] In November 2015, a panel of the Fourth Circuit rejected Gray's appeal to that court.[26] On January 19, 2016, Gray's execution was set for March 16, 2016,[27] but was stayed again to allow Gray to appeal to the US Supreme Court.[26]

In 2016, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Gray's case.[28] In November 2016, Gray was scheduled to be executed on January 18, 2017.[29] His clemency plea was denied by governor Terry McAuliffe, and his lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court.[30] He was executed on January 18, 2017, at Greensville Correctional Center at 9:42 PM EST.[31] Dandridge is currently incarcerated in the Sussex II State Prison.[32]

Memorials
  • The Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Family Memorial Endowment has been created "to provide music, visual art, and performing arts enrichment in the Richmond area, which may include but is not limited to educational scholarships".
  • An annual event, Ruby's Run, has been organized to raise money in Ruby Harvey's name for a scholarship fund at Ruby's preschool, the Second Presbyterian Child Care Center in downtown Richmond. The first took place on Saturday, November 4, 2006; the second was on Saturday, November 17, 2007; the third was Sunday, November 9, 2008, and the fourth was November 8, 2009.
  • In June 2006, the William Fox Elementary School in Richmond, where Stella Harvey attended school, dedicated its new Children's Garden to the memory of Stella Harvey.
  • In January 2007, a Richmond newspaper named the Harvey Family the 2006 Richmonders of the Year.
  • The American alternative country group Drive-By Truckers dedicated the song "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife" from their 2008 album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, to the Harvey family. Band member Patterson Hood stated he wrote the song in reaction to the death of Bryan Harvey and his family.
  • The Christian metal band, Demon Hunter, dedicated the song, The Last One Alive from their 2014 album, Extremist to the memories of the Richmond murders, including the Harvey family.
  • The city of Richmond, VA dedicated a newly-completed foot bridge in Forest Hill Park to the memory of the Harvey family on September 19, 2010, naming it The Harvey Family Memorial Bridge. Community organization Friends of Forest Hill Park first proposed that the new bridge be designated as a memorial, and raised money to place a stone marker with a plaque nearby.
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See also

References
  1. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Archived 2006-12-01 at the Wayback Machine "Stepfather didn't trust Gray", January 10, 2006
  2. Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Gray jury dismissed until Tuesday", August 22, 2006
  3. Stockwell, Jamie; Morello, Carol (January 12, 2006). "Pair Admit N.Va. Stabbing". The Washington Post.
  4. "Jury Weighing Execution for Killer of Richmond Family Hears Testimony of Violence". Fox News. August 18, 2006.
  5. "Man convicted of grisly murders of Virginia couple, daughters". USA Today. August 17, 2006.
  6. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/house-of-freaks-singer-murdered-20060104
  7. http://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_c400be9c-80dc-515c-847c-9e803cc9f073.html
  8. Richmond.com, "Prosecution: Victims Suffocated", September 19, 2006
  9. Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Dandridge: 'I bound the family'", September 19, 2006
  10. Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Gray: 'None of this was necessary'", August 17, 2006
  11. Lash, Cindi (October 22, 2006). "Why is one killing worth less?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  12. CBS6 WTVR, "Friday Morning Blog – Arlington Attack Testimony", October 31, 2006
  13. CBS8.com, "Trial to Begin in Gruesome Va. Killings", August 8, 2006
  14. CrimeLibrary.com Archived 2008-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, "Tucker/Baskerville Family Murders"
  15. Richmond.com, "Live or Let Die?", August 18, 2006
  16. O'Rear, Caine (September 20, 2006). "Dandridge Gets Three Life Sentences". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  17. Nolan, Jim (September 19, 2007). "Dandridge Pleads Guilty; Sentenced to Life Without Parole". inRich.com (On Trial Blog). Richmond, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  18. "Commonwealth of Virginia – Department of Corrections – Offenders, Offender Locator". Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  19. Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Gray gets death penalty", August 23, 2006
  20. Comcast News, "Killer of Virginia Family Gets Death", October 23, 2006
  21. The Free Lance-Star Archived 2013-01-24 at Archive.today, "Culpeper indicts Gray", December 19, 2006
  22. The Star Exponent Archived 2007-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, "Not guilty plea from convicted killer Gray", January 9, 2007
  23. The Star Exponent Archived 2007-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, "Ricky Jovan Gray pleads not guilty to Warner murder", July 18, 2007
  24. Mail Archive, "Judge suspends Culpeper murder charge against death-row inmate", June 4, 2008
  25. Green, Frank (May 12, 2011). "Execution date set for Harvey family killer but appeal likely". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
  26. Green, Frank (February 26, 2016). "4th Circuit Puts Gray's Execution on Hold Until Supreme Court Can Weigh In". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  27. Green, Frank; Llovio, Louis (January 9, 2016). "Ricky Gray Execution Set For March 16". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  28. "Supreme Court will not hear appeal of Harvey family killer Ricky Gray". 3 October 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  29. "Richmond killer should not endure 'chemical torture' lawyers argue". 14 December 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  30. "UPDATED: McAuliffe declines clemency for Ricky Gray; his lawyers file emergency request to U.S. Supreme Court". Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  31. Azadeh Ansari; Tony Marco. "Virginia executes convicted family killer Ricky Gray". CNN. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  32. https://vadoc.virginia.gov/general-public/offender-locator/
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