New memorial dedicated in honor of Darnell Gray
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
An organization that represents missing people placed a new memorial in a Jefferson City park Friday for a boy allegedly killed by his caretaker four years ago.
The group Missouri Missing dedicated the memorial for 4-year-old Darnell Gray at Washington Park. The memorial consisted of a new plaque and a tree.
A memorial stone placed at the park for Gray in 2021 was removed along with dying trees after the city rehabilitated the area, according to the organization.
The Cole County Prosecutor's Office charged Gray's caregiver, Quatavia Givens, with first-degree murder and other crimes in the boy's death. Investigators found Gray's body in the 2100 block of Louis Circle in October 2018 after police officers and volunteers spent days searching for the boy.
Givens reported Gray either wandered away or was taken, according to court documents. Public court records show a two-week trial for Givens is scheduled to start on March 13, 2023.
Missouri Missing plans to hold a public candlelight vigil for Gray in the Washington Park Ice Arena parking lot on Oct. 30 at 3:30 p.m.
Missouri Missing Volunteer Mary William-Coley says she's been following the case since the beginning.
She says although Gray is not related to her, she cares just as much as someone who is. "My heart bleeds because it's a mother today without a baby that died. Senseless. It's just, It's overwhelming," Coley said.
