Attorney general will prosecute former Coffee County teen

Attorney General Luther Strange will prosecute a former Coffee County teen charged in connection with a single-vehicle accident that resulted in a fatality.

Strange announced Monday, Dec. 14, that former Elba resident John Carlton Gray, 19, who now lists a Wetumpka address, is arrested in connection with the crash that killed 18-year-old Griffin Jones in Coffee County May 3.

Gray was arrested by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Dec. 11 and was released on $75,000 bond the same day.

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

Strange said no further information about the investigation or about Gray’s alleged crimes other than that stated in the indictment may be released at this time.

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

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

The single-vehicle crash claimed the life of Jones, who is from Brantley. Jones, who was not using a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene, Cook said.

The crash occurred at about 2 a.m. on Alabama 87, four miles north of Zion Chapel.

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.

Gray was arrested and transported to the Coffee County Jail, where he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with a death. Gray was released from the Coffee County Jail after posting $10,000 bond in May.

The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office due to the recusal of the Coffee County District Attorney Tom Anderson.

Anderson said Monday 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.

Strange commended those who are handling this case, noting in particular Assistant Attorney General Bill Lisenby and James Rutter of his Criminal Trials Division and thanked the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.