Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — Dozens of mental health workers and child advocates are urging Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to spare the life of a convicted killer scheduled to be executed next week.
More than 50 people sent a letter to McAuliffe this week asking him to support Ricky Gray’s request to have his sentence commuted to life in prison. Gray’s execution is scheduled for Jan. 18.
Gray’s attorneys say he was raped repeatedly by his brother as a child and began using drugs to deal with the effects of that abuse. Gray claims he doesn’t remember much about a family’s slaying because he was high.
The letter says Gray deserves a strong punishment, but that it’s “beyond dispute” that he was also a victim of “horrific” abuse.