Teen showed signs of trouble
Transferred to adult court in mother’s death
The judge who transferred Jonathan Ray, 14, to adult court on murder charges Tuesday said he found it “striking” that warning signs the youth was potentially homicidal or suicidal weren’t taken more seriously.
“We knew a year ago this young man harbored dark t houghts,” Shelby County Juvenile Court Special Judge Dan Michael said, in announcing his decision to transfer Ray on a charge of felony first-degree murder in the arson death of the teen’s mother, Gwendolyn Wallace, 45.
Ray was committed to a hospital for 10 days in 2012 for “suicidal and homicidal ideations” and then was sent to therapy. His therapist previously testified that the youth was showing progress in dealing with depression and anger, but his parents abruptly stopped bringing him to counseling after five sessions.
Ray’s lead attorney, Robert Gowen, called that the biggest tragedy in this case, saying his client — a Southwind High School football standout — could have been redirected with proper help for his mental illness.
The judge responded: “We won’t know.”
Michael said he believes prosecutors’ contention that Ray killed his mother with premeditation after she grounded him from seeing his girlfriend.
After Ray’s stepfather, security guard James Wallace, left the family’s home early on April 5 to fill in for a sick coworker, investigators say Ray went to the garage to grab the gasoline can. They said he poured the accelerant on carpet at the base of stairs that led from the living room to the upstairs, where his mother slept, and set it on fire.
On his way out, Ray dis-