RICHMOND, Va. – The nation’s highest court said Monday that it will not hear the appeal of Virginia death row inmate Ricky Gray.
Gray was involved in the murders of seven Richmond people, along with his accomplice Ray Dandridge.
On New Year’s Day 2006, Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their two young daughters were bound, beaten and stabbed inside the basement of their Woodland Heights home. The home was also set on fire.
Gray received the death sentence for the murder of daughters Stella and Ruby Harvey.
Harvey family
Dandridge, was sentenced to life in prison for the killings of the Baskerville-Tucker family; Ashley Baskerville, 21; her mother, Mary Tucker, 47; and stepdad, Percyell Tucker, 55.
Both men were involved in the murder of both South Richmond families though there were other victims in their rampage.
Gray confessed his role in murders to police. A jury convicted Gray and sentenced him to death.
Gray claimed an appeal was warranted because he didn’t get a fair trial. He said his lawyers failed to tell jurors that he was high on PCP at the time of the killings.
He admitted to investigators that he and his accomplice “binged” on the drug PCP in the days before the Harvey murders. Gray’s new defense team said his trial lawyers never brought in experts to fully explain how PCP affects the brain and memory, which could have discredited his testimony to investigators.
Gray was previously scheduled for execution on Mach 16, 2016.
The case will return to the Richmond Commonwealth Attorney’s office.
The office said Monday that they are still evaluating how they are going to proceed.
