A Muscogee County jury returned a mixed verdict in the murder trial of Stacey Gray Monday, December 1, 2025. Gray was facing six charges for the death of Renee Eldridge, who went missing from her Columbus home on July 4, 2015, and was found three days later, submerged in a Valley, AL, creek. The jury found Gray guilty of felony murder, rape, and aggravated assault. He was acquitted of the charges of malice murder, a second count of felony murder and kidnapping.
Prosecutor Don Kelly said he was satisfied with the jury’s decision. “I don’t see it as a mixed verdict because he was convicted of murder and rape and I think that the jury put a lot of thought into what they did and I totally understand their verdict. We had problems with the malice murder we knew all along because we had such difficulty telling what the cause of death was because of the situation,” Kelly said. The original medical examiner who has since passed away ruled Eldridge died from blunt force trauma. The state’s expert said he couldn’t rule out asphyxiation or drowning as a cause of death and told the jury Eldridge died from homicidal violence.
Stacey Gray’s public defender Angela Dillon was more perplexed by the jury’s decision. “You can never know the jury’s thought process. I can’t really follow their thinking. I was a little surprised that they acquitted him on the kidnapping but still found that the state had venue for the other charges because the kidnapping was the main thing that they could show could have happened in Muscogee County,” Dillon said.
Stacey Gray sat motionless as the Clerk read the verdict. Dillon said he was trying to figure it out. “He really hasn’t had a reaction because there were a lot of counts and it was a mixed verdict. He hasn’t had time to process it, so he really didn’t have a strong reaction other than of course disappointment,” she said.
The family of Renee Eldridge expressed relief after the verdict was announced. After more than a decade of sitting through countless court proceedings, Renee’s brother James said “We’re happy justice is finally being served. It’s been ten years. I’m very relieved and very thankful for not only Don Kelly’s office but everyone who worked so hard on this and got us to where we’re at today. It’s not gonna bring my sister back but it will definitely help for sure,” Eldridge said…