Eric Gray: Jury Finds Jail Escapee Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter

Eric Glenn Gray, the St. Louis teenager who briefly escaped from the City Workhouse last June while being held on a murder charge, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The jury returned its verdict around 2:30 a.m., according to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office. Gray was accused of killing 18-year-old Alvin Williams in March 2010 after Williams, a member of a rival gang, greeted him with the salutation, "What's up, cuz?"

But perhaps more interesting than that senseless killing was what happened three months later, when Gray and a roommate intentionally flooded their cell in the workhouse's segregation unit. Although it's contrary to protocol, the two detainees were then allowed access to the lobby in order to clean the cell -- and, bizarrely, wardens never bothered to make sure they returned.
As KSDK reported at the time,

The suspects gained access to an exterior door, broke out a window and climbed over three fences, including a razor ribbon fence. They ran across the lawn and were able to climb over or go underneath two additional security fences.

And, as KSDK reported, even though the inmates were found to be missing at the 4 a.m. roll call, it wasn't until 6 a.m. that anyone bothered to call police.

Still, despite that great head start, Gray and his cellmate, Kurt Michael Wallace, didn't stay on the lam for long. They were apprehended at 5:45 p.m. -- just five miles away from the workhouse in north city.