Investigators Charge Tuscaloosa County Couple for 2022 Death of Their Infant Child

Police in Tuscaloosa County charged a mother and father with felonies Friday afternoon after a nearly yearlong investigation into the death of their child last May.

Captain Jack Kennedy, the commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, said Greyson Randal Gray was born in February 2022 but he died around three months later on May 5th, 2022.

Officers were called that day to the Coker residence where Greyson lived with his mother Jessica Minor and father Randall Chester Gray.

The infant was unresponsive, and although lifesaving procedures were attempted until an ambulance arrived, the child did not survive.

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An investigation was launched and the Violent Crimes Unit interviewed both parents, but there were no physical signs of trauma on the child's body, and no charges were immediately filed but work on the case continued.

Kennedy said after the investigation began, the VCU learned that "street" methamphetamine had been detected in Greyson's system when he was born last February. Tests can differentiate between illegal drugs and stimulants found in prescription medication, Kennedy said, and this was the former.

After their discovery, police arrested Minor in August 2022 on a charge of chemical endangerment of a child, which is a Class C felony, but investigators had yet to prove that illegal drugs were responsible for the baby's death.

Minor was released from jail on a $15,000 bond, and investigators awaited the completion of an autopsy report from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which ultimately concluded that the child's cause of death was "methamphetamine toxicity."

With the report in hand, VCU investigators and prosecutors presented their findings to a grand jury, who earlier this week indicted Minor and Gray on one count each of the chemical endangerment of a child, but because that exposure allegedly led to the victim's death, the charge is elevated to a Class A felony.

Police arrested the parents Friday morning, and during the process reportedly discovered more methamphetamine in their possession.

In addition to the new endangerment charges, Gray was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and Minor was charged with trafficking methamphetamine.

Gray's bond was set at $100,000 cash for the endangerment charge. Minor got the same bond for that charge, but her previous bond after the August arrest has been revoked and the new trafficking charge will likely carry a very high bond itself.

The couple was transported from the sheriff's office to the county jail Friday afternoon.