Teen sentenced to 120 months for fatal car crash

The driver in a single-vehicle traffic crash that claimed the life of his friend was sentenced to 120 months in prison after pleading guilty March 31 in Coffee County Circuit Court in Elba.

John Carlton Gray, 19, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and failure to report an accident in connection with the May 3, 2015 death of Griffin Jones, who was 18 at the time.

Attorney General Luther Strange’s Criminal Trials Division prosecuted the case after 12th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Anderson recused himself from hearing the case.

Anderson said that he had recused himself from prosecuting the case because of his relationship with the defendant’s family. “I have known the defendant’s parents for many years,” Anderson said. “The defendant’s father is a pastor and he performed my wedding ceremony.”

Anderson said that the defendant’s family had also been the neighbor of the circuit’s assistant district attorney Josh Wilson.

Gray has been free on $75,000 bond since his arrest by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Dec. 11, 2015.

Gray pleaded guilty to manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injuries and failure to immediately report an accident resulting in injury or death.

Gray, 18 at the time of the crash, was driving a 2010 Dodge Charger that left the roadway, struck a utility pole and several trees before catching fire, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Trooper Kevin Cook said following the May accident.

The crash occurred at about 2 a.m. on Alabama 87, four miles north of Zion Chapel, near Jack in Coffee County.

The initial news release from the state troopers’ office indicated that Jones was driving the vehicle, but after further investigation, it was revealed that Gray was the driver, Cook said.

According to testimony March 31, Gray was driving approximately 80 miles an hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, recklessly causing the death of Griffin.

The vehicle crashed into a utility pole and two trees and caught fire, according to court testimony. Gray left the vehicle and hid in the woods for several hours without reporting the crash to authorities.

“This defendant showed an appalling disregard for the life of his victim and it is appropriate that he will serve time in prison for his crimes,” Strange said following Gray’s guilty plea.

Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley sentenced Gray to 120 months, to be served concurrently for each conviction. The sentence was suspended for him to serve 18 months in prison followed by four years active supervised probation and to pay $15,119 in restitution, as well as court costs and fees.

Kelley ordered Gray to turn himself in to law enforcement authorities to begin his prison term on April 10, no later than 3 p.m.

Gray had faced a maximum penalty of two to 20 years for manslaughter, a class B felony. He faced additional penalties of one to 10 years for each of the traffic offenses, which are class C felonies, because a death resulted.

Strange commended those who handled the case, crediting Assistant Attorneys General Bill Lisenby and James Rutter of the AG’s Criminal Trials Division, Special Agents of the AG’s Investigations Division and Sarah Green, chief of the Attorney General’s Office of Victim Assistance. Strange also credited the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, whose state troopers handled the crash investigation.