The murder trial of Stacey Gray began today, November 18, 2025, with opening statements and expert testimony. Gray is charged with the rape and murder of Renee Eldridge in July of 2015.
District Attorney Don Kelly said Stacey Gray was waiting for Eldridge at her home in Columbus after a night out with friends on July 3, 2015. Kelly said Gray tied her up with a rope. “He raped her and killed her and threw her body into a creek tied to a cinder block,” Kelly told the jury.
Kelly said the mother of Renee Eldridge, Nancy Gray, was in a two-year relationship with Stacey Gray, and at one point, he had a key to the home she shared with Renee. The District Attorney said Stacey Gray knew the mother was spending the night away on July 3rd. When Nancy Gray returned home on the morning of July 4, 2015, she noticed a window screen lying in the grass, Eldridge’s pit bull still in a pen, and the back door wide open. Eldridge, her purse, and .38 revolver were all missing.
The circumstances of the murder were eerily similar to an attack on Eldridge six months prior in December of 2014, Kelly told the jury. Eldridge was tied up and raped with a pillow over her face, and later told her family that the person who raped me said he would kill me if I reported it. Both rape kit samples from the murder and the 2014 attack match Stacey Gray’s DNA. DA Kelly said Gray was caught with her gun, witnesses reported seeing his vehicle on the bridge over the creek where Eldridge’s body was dumped. “He is in fact, beyond all doubt guilty of committing these crimes,” Kelly told the jury.
Stacey Gray’s public defender Angela Dillon asked the jury to keep an open mind until they’ve heard all of the evidence. “You won’t hear about blood at the residence,” Dillon said. She told the jury to be mindful of the timing of things and mindful of the locations. The case spans Muscogee County, Russell County, AL, Chambers County, AL, and Macon County, AL.
The state called multiple witnesses to the stand, including Dr. Edward Reedy, Chief Medical Examiner of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. He was sworn in as an expert witness after the original medical examiner who performed the autopsy passed away. The jury was shown autopsy photos of Renee Eldridge with her wrists and ankles bound with rope and a rope around her neck. She had blunt force injuries to the head. Dr. Reedy testified that Eldridge died from homicidal violence.
Stacey Gray is facing multiple charges for the death of Renee Eldridge, including malice murder, rape, and kidnapping. The trial is expected to last another week.
