JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) People in Jefferson City gathered in Community Park on Friday evening to honor the life of Darnell Gray. Friday marked the sixth anniversary of Gray’s death after the toddler was allegedly struck and smothered to death by his caretaker.
The event -- put on by Missouri Missing and In the Gap Ministries -- featured food, entertainment, a bounce house, rock painting, guest speakers and a prayer service. Event organizers said the goal is to raise awareness of mental health resources available in the community and to get justice for Gray. “We want to bring the focus to mental illness in our community,” Mary Williams-Coley, of In the Gap ministries, said.
“We want our community to know that we stand in the gap and we have resources that you're not alone. That's what sparked this from that a testament for him.” “We want justice for him,” Sean Earley, treasurer for Missouri Missing, said.
Earley said that Missing Missouri want Gray's alleged killer to face consequences for their actions. "And then we want to make awareness and bring the resources to people that don’t realize what’s out there.” he said.
Quatavia Givens was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and abandoning a corpse in relation to the death of 4-year-old Gray in 2018. Gray's body was found in the 2100 block of Louis Circle in October 2018, after several days of searches involving police and volunteers. Givens initi.
