Suspects in Callaway County make first court appearance
UPDATE 10/7: A jury trial has been scheduled for next May.
ORIGINAL STORY: Two people charged with murder in Callaway County have made their first court appearance. Dale Horton and Jennifer Grayson appeared via video Friday morning; their next court dates are scheduled for late May and early June, respectively.
When asked about what punishment he might seek in the case, Callaway County Prosecutor Chris Wilson said it’s still too early in the investigation to say for sure.
Horton and Grayson face murder charges in the shooting deaths of Joshua Griffith and Sherry Horton. Sherry was Dale’s mother, and Griffith was Dale’s brother-in-law.
A probable cause statement from the Callaway County Sheriff’s Department says Horton admitted to shooting Sherry and Griffith at Sherry’s home in rural Callaway County on April 26. Court documents say Grayson was inside the resident with Dale, verbally berating Sherry prior to her death.
Grayson’s mother told deputies that Jennifer and Dale had come by her home at approximately 3:15p.m, dropping off their children. According to the mother of Grayson, they seemed frantic to leave the children with her, suggestion to the mother “they need to do something immediately.”
Dale L. Horton and Jennifer Grayson were later located and arrested in Columbia at the Welcome Inn. Multiple children were present at Welcome Inn at the time of the arrests.
The bond for Jennifer Grayson & Dale L. Horton is set at $5 million cash only.
ABC 17 News confirmed Griffith was charged in Cole County in December 2015 for sex crimes involving a child under the age of 14.
