Harvey family murder
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The Harvey family murder refers to the murder of Kathryn, Bryan, Stella, and Ruby Harvey, a family of four, who were found bound with tape in the basement of their burnt home in the Woodland Heights district of Richmond, Virginia on January 1, 2006.
Kathryn Harvey (39) was the owner of a successful toy shop called "World of Mirth" in the Carytown district of Richmond, Virginia and the half-sister of actor Steven Culp. Bryan Harvey (49) had been a member of House of Freaks, a two-man college-rock band in Richmond. Stella and Ruby were 9 and 4, respectively.
A friend called for help when he visited the home and smelled smoke from the fire. Forensic evidence and a large number of interviews led investigators to the arrest of two suspects, Ray Dandridge and Ricky Javon Gray, on 8 January.
The murders drew wide attention from bloggers who were fans of Bryan Harvey's band. Kathryn Harvey's brother is actor Steven Culp, best known for his role as Rex van de Camp on the U.S. television series Desperate Housewives.
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[edit] The trials
On August 17, 2006, jurors found Ricky Javon Gray guilty on five capital murder charges four days into the trial. They deliberated for about 30 minutes.
"I really don't know how I was able to do that," he said after telling how he slit the Harveys' throats with a kitchen knife and smashed their heads repeatedly with a claw hammer, the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper reported. "I don't believe sorry is strong enough. None of this was necessary."
"We walked in and talked them downstairs," Gray said. He taped the hands and feet of Kathryn, Stella and Ruby while Dandridge went through the house, looking for items to steal. Kathryn and the girls were able to wriggle free of their hand tape, so Gray re-taped their hands behind their backs. "Now that I think about it, it was a real nasty scene," he told the detective. That's when Gray said he began cutting the Harveys' throats, the Times-Dispatch reported. "They kept gettin up and they was scaring me. I remember seeing the hammer and picking it up and then I don't know who I hit first. I was just hittin them all with the hammer. All I know is, nobody was moving when I left out there."
Gray said he thinks Dandridge came back downstairs and "did the old man, cut him. . . . But it doesn't matter if he did or not 'cause he was still alive after, 'til I hit him with the hammer. Then the man laid down. Then I left."
On October 23, 2006, Gray was sentenced to death for his part in the killings. [1]
[edit] Connections to Harvey's Music
Fans have unearthed several eerie similarities between Harvey's music and details of the tragic murder. For example, the murder weapon was a claw hammer. A song off the 1989 album Tantilla by the House of Freaks was named "When the Hammer Came Down."
[edit] Ruby Harvey Memorial Scholarship Fund
An annual event, Ruby's Run, has been organized to raise money in Ruby Harvey's name for a scholarship fund at Ruby's preschool, the Second Presbyterian Child Care Center in downtown Richmond. The first took place on Saturday, November 4, 2006.
