2006 Richmond spree murders

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.[10] 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."[11] 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.[12][13]

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.[14] 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.[15] 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"[16] and Gray "got tired of the girl, so he decided to kill her and take her parents' car".[10]

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.[17]

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.[17][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.[16] 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 U.S. 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]

• 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 dedicated a newly-completed footbridge 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.

• Capital punishment in Virginia
• List of people executed in Virginia
• List of people executed in the United States in 2017
• List of serial killers in the United States

• Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Foundation
• Gray v. Commonwealth (Ricky Javon GRAY, a/k/a Ricky Jovan Gray v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia. Supreme Court of Virginia. Decided: June 8, 2007.)