‘I Did Not Shoot Her,’ Says Gray of Missing Girlfriend

Robert James Gray Jr., charged with the murder of his girlfriend, gave conflicting statements Friday about his alleged involvement in her death but vowed to prove his innocence.

During an interview at the Orange County Jail, the 30-year-old Gray would not comment on why he took Garden Grove police detectives to a large orange grove Thursday on the outskirts of Corona in Riverside County to search for Debbie Ann Lee’s body.

But he said: “I did not shoot her; I did not intend to murder her. If I did, why would I come back to town?”

Lee’s body had not been found by late Friday, but investigators still maintain that she is dead, and they say evidence indicating foul play was found at her residence and at a travel trailer that Gray kept behind his Garden Grove stereo store.

Police said Monday that a bloodstained cloth found at an empty grave site in a remote area of northeast Orange County was a piece of Lee’s clothing; they also have said they believe the woman was shot.

Authorities had been searching for Gray since Lee was last seen Aug. 1. Police obtained an arrest warrant charging him with murder earlier this week.

Gray, accompanied by his Downey attorney, Kirt Hopson, surrendered to police Thursday afternoon. A search for “one body, one site, no graves” in Riverside County was launched a short time later, Hopson said.

He added that Gray, who remained at the Orange County Jail Friday on $250,000 bail, is expected to be arraigned on the murder charge early next week in Central Orange County Municipal Court.

Hopson and a police lieutenant indicated late Thursday night that Gray had admitted killing the Garden Grove woman. But Friday, Garden Grove police Capt. Monte Davis and Hopson both said Gray had not confessed to police that he killed Lee.

‘I Didn’t Shoot Her’

“ ‘Confession’ might be too strong,” Davis said.

“My client has not confessed to anything,” Hopson said.

In a 25-minute interview Friday, Gray, dressed in a mustard-colored jail jump suit, said, “First off, I didn’t shoot her. I was out of town when I found out that the whole story (about Lee’s apparent death) got turned around. I decided to talk to my attorney and the police.

“She wasn’t shot.”

Asked how he knew that, and whether he knew if Lee was actually dead or who might have killed her, Gray said, “I don’t want to mention that. I did not intentionally murder her.”

Gray did not elaborate, saying, “There’s a problem with me that I have to take care of first. . . . I didn’t shoot her; I didn’t intend to murder her. If I did, why would I come back to town? All I want to say is I didn’t shoot her.

“I didn’t kill her . . . right now, it’s like I’m in another world. You check my life, and I’ve got everything going for me,” he said, referring to the stereo store on Brookhurst Street that he has owned since 1981. “There’s some information I have to get to my attorney to prove I’m innocent.”

Gray said he didn’t want to discuss his relationship with Lee, adding, “Put yourself in my situation. You’ve got everything going for you in the world--your health, your life, your friends--and you lose it.”

Asked where he had been since Lee disappeared, Gray said, “Hell.”