A Kentucky man accused of killing his girlfriend and fleeing the state with his four young sons was arrested in Illinois on Friday.
State Police confirmed the four young boys were located safe and unharmed with Richard Gray, 32, after an Amber Alert was issued on Friday evening. That was after Bardstown Police found Gray’s girlfriend, Tabitha Nicole Murray, 33, dead on the kitchen floor of her home during a welfare check around 5:30 p.m., according to WDRB.
According to a release, Gray allegedly murdered Murray and fled the victim’s residence with the four children. A warrant was issued for Gray’s arrest with a bond set at $500,000.
Gray was arrested before midnight on Feb. 4 when officers from Mt. Vernon Police responded to a call about a gas station fight between him and another man. Gray was taken into custody but initially lied about his identity.
“Upon running the registration on the vehicle, the officers learned an Amber Alert had been posted on the vehicle,” officials stated, “and the vehicle was possibly being driven by a murder suspect, Richard Gray, from Kentucky and endangered children were also believed to be traveling in the vehicle.”
The children were found safe inside the vehicle and transported to the Mt. Vernon Police Department, PEOPLE reports. The Division of Children and Family Services assisted in returning the children to family members, police stated. The boys have reportedly been placed with their paternal grandparents.
Gray has been charged with first-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment in Kentucky, and is not cooperating with police. In Illinois, charges are reportedly pending in Jefferson County for resisting and/or obstructing arrest, obstructing identification, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a stolen firearm, criminal damage to property, and aggravated battery, per PEOPLE.
“I knew she was a really good girl. She never did bother nobody. She never did anything to nobody,” Chasity Gilbert, a neighbor told news station WDRB.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out what’s going on, what really happened, what caused this,” Gilbert said.
“I’ve been here since 2017. I’ve never seen nothing like this in my neighborhood before and it was so quiet,” Gilbert said.
“When this happened, it was so heartbreaking.”
One of the victim’s sisters, Trina Murray, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Murray’s children and cover her burial costs.
Murray was a mother of two, including one son with Gray that was one of the four boys with him when he was arrested. Murray’s other child was not abducted and is safe with her family.
“She was more than a sister, she was my best friend,” said Tina Murray. “There wasn’t anything we didn’t go through together. I feel as a big sister that’s my job, to protect my sisters and I hate that I wasn’t there.”
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