RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the death sentence appeal for convicted murderer Ricky Gray.
Gray was convicted in the New Year’s Day 2006 murders of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey, their 9-year-old daughter Stella and 4-year-old daughter Ruby. The family was stabbed and beaten to death after being tied up in their basement. The Harveys were preparing to host friends for a holiday chili dinner when Gray and Ray Dandridge tied them up in their basement, where they were stabbed and beaten to death.
Gray was sentenced to death while Dandridge was sentenced to life in prison.
In an appeal, attorneys for Gray said that his original lawyers didn’tt fully communicate to the jury Gray’s state of mind when he committed the crimes. Dandridge and Gray allegedly ingested large amounts of PCP and drank to the point of intoxication everyday during the time period the two went on the killing spree.
Gray was also convicted in the deaths of Percyell Tucker, his wife Mary and their daughter, Ashley Baskerville, who was an accomplice in the Harvey family murder.
An execution date can now be set for Gray.
Stay with 8News for continuing coverage of this developing story.
