2nd suspect gets prison time in fatal shooting of 6-month-old in car seat
In January 2022, Kerri Gray strapped her 6-month-old into his car seat before they ventured to the nearby food mart she often visited in northwest Atlanta.
Before pulling into the parking lot, Gray said she noticed two cars speeding past and chasing each other.
The mother then saw a gun, but it was too late.
After being caught in the crossfire during the brazen drive-by shooting, Gray turned around and saw something that caused her heart to race: her baby, Grayson Matthew Fleming-Gray, was slumped over, with a pool of blood in his lap.
“I pulled him out of the car seat and I grabbed him, and when I did that, that’s when I felt the pieces — the loose pieces in the back of his head,” Gray said in 2022 while fighting back tears.
This week, 44 months after Gray said the bullet went through the trunk and “straight through my son,” she received a final measure of closure. The second suspect, who prosecutors said was driving the vehicle from where the shots were fired, was sentenced in the case.
Sharice Michelle Ingram pleaded guilty Monday in connection with the Jan. 24, 2022, killing of Fleming-Gray on Anderson Avenue in Fulton County.
After the non-negotiated guilty plea, a judge sentenced Ingram to 25 years, with 20 to be served in prison, according to a final disposition obtained Tuesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to her indictment, she had faced 28 counts, including charges of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, gun possession, criminal damage to property and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
“This conviction holds the defendant accountable for a reckless and senseless act of gun violence that took the life of a 6-month-old child caught in the crossfire,” Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement. “While no verdict can undo this tragedy, we hope this outcome delivers justice for Baby Grayson’s family and makes clear that such disregard for human life will never be tolerated in our community.”
On the day of the shooting, a witness told 911 that people in two vehicles, a black Hyundai and a silver Jeep Cherokee, appeared to be chasing each other. Officials said Ingram was driving the Jeep as the other suspect, Dequasie Little, fired the shot that struck the child.
Little and Ingram were arrested in the days after the shooting. The indictment stated they committed the act while associated with the “Goodfellas” criminal street gang. Little was indicted for violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act in May 2023, but disposition documents show that prosecutors dropped those charges.
In March, Little pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, first- and second-degree criminal damage to property, criminal attempt to commit a felony, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, documents show.
During this week’s sentencing hearing, Gray told the court that Ingram made some bad choices and that she shouldn’t be allowed to make another bad one, according to Channel 2 Action News. After the sentencing, Gray appeared to approve of the outcome.
“I think it’s fair. We can sleep at night. She gets held accountable,” she told the news station.
Ingram’s probation conditions included having no contact with the victim’s family, witnesses or Little, court records show.
Gray said she would keep her son’s memory alive by working to stop gun violence.
“That was the worst feeling in the world because he was already a miracle baby,” Gray previously told the AJC. “That was the baby that I dreamt of having my whole life. And the fact that somebody could so selfishly take him away.”
