First, Trevor Gray was blindsided by a bully at a party in Buckatunna. Two years later, he was blindsided again by the system that was supposed to seek justice on his behalf.
That’s the way he and his family view what happened when his attackers received a fraction of the maximum sentence in a plea deal in Wayne County Circuit Court.
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“They brutally attacked me, and now they’ll never get what they deserve,” said Gray, 29, who now lives and works in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge have to sign off on plea agreements, and they are neither reversible nor subject to appeal in appellate courts. The sentences are final.
Trevor Gray
Landon McCaa, 35, and Tomas Sion Brown, 30, were ordered to serve 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault last week in the April 2019 case. Aggravated assault carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. McCaa was represented by Hattiesburg attorney T. Michael Reed and Brown was represented by Petal attorney Glenn White. Special prosecutor Clay Cranford was appointed to handle the case by Wayne County District Attorney Kassie Coleman because of a conflict of interest — one of the investigators in her office is a half-brother of Brown’s. Judge Charles Wright was presiding.
Gray said Cranford contacted him early this month with an offer for the defendants to serve one year in prison. Gray said he would talk with his family and get back to the prosecutor.
“I called back and asked for two years at a bare minimum,” Gray said by phone earlier this week.
The defendants’ attorneys countered with a sentence of 18 months, and again, Gray told him he wanted to talk to his family first. Cranford indicated that if the plea was unacceptable, he would go forward with the trial that was scheduled for April 26 in Kemper County after the defense was granted a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.
“I called back at least 10 times and never heard back (from Cranford), so I left a message with his assistant: ‘Do not go forward with this plea deal,’” Gray said.
On Friday, Wayne County Circuit Clerk Rose Bingham contacted Gray’s mother and asked for his mailing address so she could send him the defendants’ checks to pay restitution for his medical expenses. The family didn’t realize until then that the plea agreement was going forward, Gray said, and by then, it was complete.
“(Cranford) purposely ducked my calls or was dishonest,” Gray said. “What happened here was wrong. That’s not how you treat a client. He ruined any chance I’ll have at justice.”
To make matters worse, Gray didn’t even recoup his out-of-pocket medical expenses, he said. The court-ordered restitution of $4,327.70 “doesn’t even cover half,” he said.
“I was let down by Clay Cranford,” Gray said. “He said he was going to fight for me — that it was a slam dunk, and he was ready to go to trial — but I was just another box to be checked off.”
Cranford has not responded to requests for comment from the Leader-Call or Gray.
A graphic cellphone video that sparked outrage shows Gray walking into the carport and smiling as McCaa says something to him then sucker-punches him. Gray went to the ground then McCaa got on top of him and hit him at least 17 more times in the face and head before the video ended. Brown then reached down, as if to help up Gray, then kicked and punched him some more, said Sheriff Jody Ashley and the victim’s brother, Laurel attorney Cruz Gray.
The victim’s jaw was broken in two places, and he went through surgery and a long recovery, which included having his mouth wired shut for six weeks.
Gray has been described as outgoing and friendly by everyone who knows him. That was even more reason for the outrage about the beating he endured.
“That’s the core of who I am, and that will never change,” he said. “I am angry and upset right now — and I sometimes get nervous now when I go somewhere or am around people I don’t know — but I’m not going to let what happened change who I am.”
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