Columbus judge sentences Stacey Gray in murder of Renee Eldridge
A Columbus judge delivered the sentence Tuesday for a man found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault and rape in the 2015 death of a woman found in an Alabama creek.
Stacey Gray, 55, was found guilty on Dec. 1, 2025, in the death of 25-year-old Renee Eldridge, whose body was found July 7, 2015, in Osanippa Creek in Chambers County, Alabama.
Superior Court Judge Carolyn “Tippi” Cain Burch sentenced Gray to life without parole on the felony murder charge and a consecutive life sentence on the rape charge, Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“We felt it was an appropriate sentence,” Kelly said in a text message to the L-E.
In his opening statements of the trial Nov. 18, Kelly said evidence would show Gray was waiting for Eldridge in her home, where he attacked, raped and killed Eldridge before taking her to Chambers County and throwing her body, tied to a cinder block, into Osanippa Creek.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation developed a DNA profile from the vaginal swabs and fingernail clippings taken from Eldridge’s body, which matched Gray, according to Kelly’s opening statements. Gray’s DNA also matched evidence from the time Eldridge was allegedly sexually assaulted in 2014.
Kelly said Gray also was caught with Eldridge’s gun, and his vehicle was seen on the bridge where her body was dumped in the creek.
“I felt like we were the last opportunity for this family to get justice,” Kelly said after the verdict in December. “So I’m very relieved that we were able to do that for the family.”
James Eldridge, brother of Renee Eldridge, told the Ledger-Enquirer at the time of the verdict he was feeling “joy” about the verdict. It felt like “the weight of the world has been lifted off of us,” he said “We’ve walked for 10 years worried about the outcome of this,” Eldridge said.
Southwest Georgia Regional Public Defender Angela Dillon said at the time she always is a “little disappointed” when the verdict is not a full acquittal.
“I think there’s some good issues for appeal,” she said. “There was a statute of limitations issue on the aggravated assault, which the jury convicted him of.”
Dillon said her team will not be involved in the appeals process, but she said they will file the motion for a new trial and will make sure Gray gets appellate counsel.
She said she appreciates the jury’s verdict.
“Clearly, they listened to arguments, and ,really, you can’t ask for more than that, that they listened to what you have to say,” Dillon said.