Deressa Jean Scales

(Trigger Warning: This case has elements of sexual assault)

June 25, 1976, was a typical, balmy day in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The sun still hung in the sky, the humidity clinging to the skin of those who dared to share the outdoors with the mosquitos buzzing around in the salty Gulf air. It was a normal evening at the Willow Creek Apartments. At around 5 in the evening, the residents would start pulling up at the apartment building, eager to relax after putting in a day's work. It was around that time, a young mother told her daughter she could go outside and play with her friends. She told her daughter, Deressa Scales, that she could only play for ten minutes and then she needed to make her way back to the apartment for dinner. 

When those ten minutes came and went, Deressa’s mother gave her five extra minutes just in case she was running a little late. When those five minutes passed, she walked out of the apartment building to get her. She figured she would disrupt her daughter who likely got caught up playing with her friends and lost track of time. She imagined she would see her mom with her hands on her hips and come running, flip flops slapping the concrete as she ran towards her. Instead Mrs. Scales found herself looking around the emptiness of the apartment building’s lawn – not a child in sight. Little Deressa was nowhere to be found. She began frantically calling for her daughter and looking all around the complex for her to no avail. She went door to door and asked the residents if Deressa happened to be in their apartments. There were a couple of apartment doors that she pounded on that nobody answered; however, everyone that did answer told her that they had not seen her daughter. Deressa was missing!

Mrs. Scales called the police who arrived at 3010 Barlett Avenue close to 5:30 p.m. Within 30 minutes of her telling her daughter that she could go out and play with her friends, her whole entire world would change. 

Officers began canvassing the area for any sign of Deressa. Some officers started questioning the residents in the apartment building. At some point that evening, one of the residents that Mrs. Scales was unable to get to the door when she was asking the residents about Deressa walked into the building and entered his apartment. She went to the door and knocked. Jimmy Lee Gray, a worker at the local shipyard, answered the door and told Mrs. Scales that he had not seen Deressa and invited her inside to take a look for herself. The two of them searched the apartment but found no sign of Deressa inside. Mrs. Scales noted that there was a pair of wet blue jeans thrown in the corner of the bedroom but left to begin helping police officers continue searching for her daughter. 

Gray ended up leaving the apartment building at some point. After he left, a female resident told officers that the last time she had seen Deressa she was standing near Gray’s car in the parking area of the apartment building. She gave them further information about Gray that caused them to seek him for questioning. At about 12:30 a.m. on June 26, Gray was found at the Colonel Dixie Restaurant where his girlfriend was working the overnight shift. 

When confronted, Gray agreed to help the police find the child and was being taken back to the apartments in a patrol car when police learned that he matched the description and shared the same date of birth as a man who was wanted in Wisconsin. Since NCIC could not provide a definitive link and afraid he was a flight risk, it was decided that Gray would be held overnight in Jackson County jail. The following day it was decided that Gray was not the male that was wanted out of Wisconsin; however, in the elevator ride from the interview area to the jail, Gray looked at Investigator McIlrath and said “If I take you to her, will you help me?”

McIlrath and Highway Patrolman Mike Whitmore immediately put Gray back in the patrol car and stopped to get Major Robbie Maxwell. The officers then took turn by turn directions given by Gray to the Helena community of Jackson County. He directed them to a bridge on Cody Road which spanned over Black Creek. He looked at them and stated “She went in right here.” 

Gray told the officers that Deressa had slipped down and fallen into the creek below where the men found themselves standing after following the directions they were given by Gray. The Jackson County Flotilla unit would later find the body of 3-year-old Deressa Jean Scales near the Coda Road bridge on the Black Creek, roughly 30 miles from where she had been taken from her home. 

Mrs. Scales, who was at home waiting for Deressa’s return, was pregnant at the time. When she heard the news about her daughter’s body being located, she was transported to the hospital. The shock and stress she had experienced over those two days sent her into early labor. She would end up giving birth to a daughter later that evening. 

A partial autopsy would show that Deressa died as a result of suffocation. Dr. Edgar Shannon Cooper would later examine her body. He noted bruises on both temples, the top of her head, and around the genital areas. She also had scratches under her ears and chin. Dr. Cooper did not believe that the blows to the head that caused the bruising would have rendered the child unconscious. He believed that Deressa’s cause of death was aspiration of a muddy material found inside her lungs. A sexual assault examination was done and found semen present on only the rectal swabs. 

A Pascagoula Police Officer, Jeff Green, stated that Gray told him that Deressa died when she accidentally fell into a ditch in a wooded area off of Greenfield Road in the Helena community. He said he then drove to the Black Creek bridge and threw her body off the south side of the bridge. Gray said that Deressa had gotten into his car at the Willow Creek Apartments and he decided not to ask her to leave. Instead, he took her for a ride around the country. He said that the child was following him after they stopped at the wooded area and he turned around and was unable to find her for approximately one minute. It was during that time he believes she fell into the ditch. 

Green went to the area and found two footprints matching sandals like those Gray wore. The footprints indicated pressure was exerted on the balls of the feet as if the person who left them had been squatting at the time. There was only 3 inches of water in the ditch at that time. The muddy material found in that ditch was the same muddy material found in Deressa’s lungs during the autopsy performed by Dr. Cooper.

Jimmy Lee Gray was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Deressa Scales.

He was held in Jackson County jail until July 2, 1976, when he was transported to Singing River Hospital with lacerations to his arms. Sheriff John Ledbetter said that Gray cut his wrists in an attempt to take his life. He was said to be in serious condition due to loss of blood. He eventually was released from the hospital and was brought back to Jackson County jail where he would stay until his arraignment. 

During his arraignment, Gray was indicted for unnatural intercourse, murder, and kidnapping. Gray pleaded innocent to all of the charges and stated that he had been coerced into his confession. He said that the policemen who were interrogating him told him that if he didn’t tell them where she was that they would beat his head in. 

Trial

A jury of 6 women and 6 men were selected for the trial that would begin on December 15, 1976. The jury would hear two days of testimony. During those testimonies, information came forth that Gray, who was a California native, was on parole after having served only part of a 20-year sentence in Arizona for the murder of his girlfriend. She was only 16-years-old at the time. He had served 7 years of a 20 year sentence for the strangling death. The jury would also hear testimony from officers, Dr. Cooper, and other residents at the apartment building.

The jury listened and exited the courtroom. When reentering, they took their seats as the guilty verdict was read aloud to the court. This would be the first Jackson County jury empaneled in a capital murder case under the new state law requiring a bifurcation procedure. This new ruling would mandate that the jury in a capital murder case deliberate on the charges first and then go back into deliberation to decide on a sentence. The jury then left the courtroom once more and returned, sentencing Jimmy Lee Gray to death in the gas chamber. His execution date was set for January 17, 1977. 

An appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court was automatically made. 

Appeals

On Wednesday, November 16, 1976, Gray’s conviction was overturned when Supreme Court Justice R.P. Sugg ruled that the trial court erred in refusing Gray to address the jury as the first trial came to a close. He also stated that there were two other fatal errors in the trial. Sugg expressed that attorneys should not have let the jurors know that Gray had been arrested and charged with a previous crime and that allowing an officer to testify that he had asked if Gray ever took Derressa under the bridge inferred that he was a child molester. 

Sugg stated that the Mississippi state Constitution guaranteed the defendant the right to be heard by himself, the council, or both. He asserted that Gray’s parole status in an Arizona murder case was simply another way of showing that he had been convicted of another crime which was not pertinent to the trial pertaining to Deressa Scales’ murder.

 On Wednesday, April 26, 1977, after a jury trial, the jury deliberated for more than 2 hours before declaring Jimmy Lee Gray guilty. The jury then spent an additional two hours reaching a sentence for him. Again, they decided the death sentence was necessary for the crimes committed.

During this trial, Dr. Charlton Stanley, a counseling psychologist at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, said that he had tested Gray for mental competence on two separate occasions and found him to be cooperative and pleasant both times. He believed that Gray’s contact with reality was “excellent”. 

Dr. Stanley also explained that Gray had an IQ of 112 and had a good understanding of social codes. He asserted that despite Gray’s IQ and intelligence, he was very highly emotional. Dr. Stanley believed that Gray appeared unable to accept blame or responsibility for his actions. He thought Gray had a character disorder and not a mental illness. 

The defense attorney for the state, Lockard, asked Dr. Stanley if there was a likelihood of Gray committing a crime again if he were to be released. Dr. Stanley replied “Yes, I think so.” He stated that the cure rates for people like Gray are virtually nil. 

Gray remained unemotional during the testimony and verdicts handed down to him during this trial. The case was to be automatically reviewed by the Mississippi State Supreme Court. 

On Wednesday, September 26, 1979, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the capital murder conviction of Gray. He was sentenced to die in the gas chamber on October 31, 1979. 

On Tuesday, October 23, 1979, a stay of execution was granted while Gray’s attorney attempted to appeal the conviction. The high court set a new execution date of December 31, 1979.  Court justices rejected a request to rehear an appeal of his conviction. 

On December 28, 1979, a stay of execution was again given to Gray. 

A third execution date was set in July of 1980. The new date would be August 6, 1980. The new date was announced after the Supreme Court refused to review the conviction, which had already been upheld by Mississippi’s highest court. 

Nearing the date of execution, Gray’s new attorney requested a stay of execution due to what he stated would be new evidence in the case. On Monday, August 4, 1980, the Mississippi Supreme Court denied an appeal to allow a stay of execution. His appeal then moved to the Supreme Court. All 9 Mississippi Justices refused to consider further review of the case and denied a request to delay execution. Gray had to exhaust all legal remedies in Mississippi courts before he could take his appeal to federal court. 

The following day, Gray was granted a stay of execution by Federal District Judge Walter Nixon, Jr. 

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In August of 1980, Deressa Scales’ parents filed an $11 million damage suit against the state of Arizona for letting Gray out of prison in 1975. The Scales filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, though at the time they had moved to Texas. They contended that psychological testing of Gray while he was at the Arizona Penitentiary showed that he had “marked disturbances, and tests showed extreme caution should be exercised before release was approved.”

The Scales’ asserted that the Arizona Parole Board had every reason to know that releasing Jimmy Lee Gray into society would be highly dangerous for young girls. They also stated that Arizona provided Gray with inadequate and incompetent treatment for his mental problems. 

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In July of 1982, Gray’s case was still tied up in the court system with the request for his case to be heard before the 5th Circuit Court. After that, Gray’s only hope would be to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case. 

Gray’s hope that the U.S. Supreme Court might hear his case were shot down on April 25, 1983, when they turned away the appeal and refused to hear arguments aimed at such. The Supreme Court would have 45 days to set an execution date. At that point, Gray’s lawyers would have to raise a new issue and persuade a federal judge to hear his plea. It appeared that it was getting near the end of the line for Gray.

In May of 1983, Gray’s attorneys, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several clergymen petitioned Governor William Winter to commute Gray’s death sentence to life in prison. Gray’s formal appeals had run out and his attorneys were trying to pull all the stops they could. 

On May 11, 1983, the Mississippi Supreme Court set Gray’s execution for July 6, 1983. Attorneys for Gray stated that they had plans to request a hearing before Governor Winter who still had not responded to them regarding clemency for Gray. He planned to plea for mercy by a written letter, which attorneys planned to include poetry written by Gray. They believed that the fact that Gray had entered a poetry contest while in prison and won $500 which he donated to an Oklahoma charity for Indians may make the Governor change his mind. On the opposing side, the Attorney General’s office stated that they will fight Gray’s plea for clemency and any other court challenge based on the heinous nature of the crimes committed against Deressa Scales and the young woman Gray had murdered in Arizona.

On June 20, 1983, Governor Winter refused to grant clemency to Jimmy Lee Gray. He stated that Gray’s case is not an obvious miscarriage of justice which is the only reason that he would grant clemency to anyone. 

Gray’s attorneys expressed their plans to file a petition in the Mississippi Supreme Court within two days asking them to hear new challenges to the sentence. A church and prison minister would argue that Gray had become a devout Christian while incarcerated for his charges. 

The Mississippi Supreme Court voted 7-1 refusing to block Gray’s execution this time. The lone dissenter, Justice Armis Hawkins, stated that the court should have heard arguments on the question of Gray’s sanity. The court ruled that Gray’s sanity was not in question and also rejected other defense arguments, including ineffectiveness of counsel.

On Friday, July 1, 1983, Gray’s attorneys scrambled to take an appeal to the 5th Circuit Court to have his execution stayed while Gray made a request for what he would like for his last meal. 

On Saturday, July 2, 1983, the 5th Circuit Court reviewed the case and again granted a stay of execution. They requested guidance from the Supreme Court concerning what conditions would be grounds for granting a stay of execution. 

Gray was scheduled to die in the gas chamber the following week. During the hearing, the judges were interested in hearing arguments about Gray’s claim of insanity and his challenges to the gas chamber. 

His attorneys claimed that he was entitled to an insanity hearing because Gray was a paranoid schizophrenic. 

On July 4, 1983, two Supreme Court Justices refused to lift the stay of execution blocking the scheduled execution fo Jimmy Lee Gray. 

On July 6, 1983, Gray sat in his cell on death row awaiting word on whether the federal appeals would allow Mississippi to execute him before midnight. 

The state attorneys planned to ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to clear the way for Gray’s execution, dependent upon a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a separate death penalty case that had just been heard in Texas. 

Due to that court case in Texas, Gray’s stay of execution was again extended to review the case entirely. The appeals court ordered attorneys to submit written arguments by July 11, 1983, in preparation for a hearing on July 14th regarding whether or not the stay of execution would be lifted.

On Friday, July 15, 1983, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans held the key to the future of Jimmy Lee Gray. The Mississippi Attorney General requested that the Supreme Court set a quick execution date for Gray who had been on death row since 1976. 

The 5th Circuit rejected seven of Gray’s attorneys’ arguments but did not officially lift the stay of execution. They also found nothing substantial in regards to the argument of Gray being “insane”. 

Execution

On the morning of September 2, 1983, Mississippi State Executioner, T. Berry Bruce, dropped cyanide crystals into a solution of water and sulfuric acid under a black steel chair. Jimmy Lee Gray sat in that chair and deeply inhaled the deadly gas that clouded the silver chamber in which he sat. His head slumped forward and he moaned before falling quiet. Two minutes later, he was pronounced dead. 

“I think he’s finally paid his debt.” – Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter