Remembering Jamie Lynn Gray

 

A Happy, Expectant Mother

16-year-old Jamie Lynn Gray was a typical teenager. She loved to hang out with her friends, swim, and read under a tree in her front yard. She also loved to take care of her brothers and help keep them in line when they misbehaved. Jamie was a kind soul who would have done anything.

In 1994, Jaime found out she was pregnant with a son. Although it was an unexpected surprise, Jamie and her family were very excited and happy about the baby. The Gray family would sit around and talk about all of the things they were going to do for Jamie and the new member of their family.

An Abusive Boyfriend

Jamie Lynn Gray had met Daniel Mathias three or four years before they started dating in 1994. Shortly after they started dating Jamie became pregnant with Mathias’ child. Jamie was only a few months into her pregnancy when 23-year-old Mathias started abusing his much younger, pregnant girlfriend. Jamie, who was living with Mathias, knew she had to get away from the violent Mathias to protect her and her unborn son. Jamie left Mathias and moved in with her mother in August, 1994.

Rather than take responsibility for his actions Mathias blamed Jamie’s’ family for the breakup. He then began harassing Jamie and her family. In one incident he went to Jamie’s mother’s house and pulled Jamie off the porch and began slapping her. Another time he went over to Jamie’s father’s trailer and broke out all the windows. Jamie eventually decided to move in with her father hoping for some safety. The situation got so dire that Jamie’s family secured a restraining order to keep Mathias away from Jamie after he threatened to kill her.

A Fateful New Year’s Day

At around 2 A.M. on January 1, 1995 Jamie was in her father’s trailer along with her brother Noah Jr. and his girlfriend. Jamie’s father was at a friend’s house down the street. Jamie was sitting on a bed playing Nintendo and Noah and his girlfriend were on the love seat.

Jamie, Noah, and Noah’s girlfriend heard a loud car with no muffler pull up in front of the trailer. Noah looked out the window and immediately recognized the vehicle as Daniel Mathias’ car. He saw Mathias sitting in the driver seat. Noah went outside and asked Mathias if he could help him. Mathias asked Noah if Jamie was there and he said “no”. Mathias told Noah to tell Jamie he came by, gave Noah a dirty look, and drove off.

Noah went back inside, shut the door and returned to the love seat. Moments later Daniel Mathias again pulled up in from of the house. Noah looked out the window and then noticed his sister Jamie standing by the front door where Mathias saw her. Noah saw a silver-colored gun pointed out the window of Mathias’ car. Before Noah could yell for everyone to get down a bullet went through the trailer door. This was followed by several additional shots. Noah grabbed his BB gun and was planning on going after Mathias when he noticed Jamie lying on the kitchen floor. Jamie told him she had been hit by a bullet.

Noah dropped the gun and went down the street to get his father while Noah’s girlfriend called 911. Jamie was transported to Grant hospital with a gunshot wound under her left armpit. Jamie Lynn Gray arrived at the hospital was pronounced dead on arrival at 3 A.M. New Year’s Day 1995 . Doctors also were not able to save Jamie’s unborn son.

A Killer Is Caught And Nets 13-28 Years In Prison

Daniel Mathias went on the run for three days staying at different residences. He was arrested at 5:15 P.M. on January 4, 1995. Mathias was charged with murder for killing Jamie. Sadly, Ohio Law at the time did not allow him to be charged with the murder of Jamie’s unborn child. Had the crime occurred one year later Mathias would have faced a second murder charge for killing an unborn child.

Mathis was given a very generous plea deal and was allowed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He admitted through his attorney’s that he fired the shots into the trailer. Judge Beverly Y. Pfeiffer sentenced Mathias to the maximum prison sentence of 10 to 25 years for involuntary manslaughter plus an additional four to 10 years for discharging a firearm into a habitation. She ran both sentences concurrently, but added a consecutive, three-year prison sentence for use of a gun.

Jamie’s father never got over his daughter’s death. In 2008 he wrote, “I love them more than anything in this world and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about them and miss them very much. The holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter, when families get together to celebrate seasons, I am left with a void in my heart that nobody will ever be able to fill. I just miss my baby girl so much and wonder what life would’ve been like with her and my grandbaby by my side.