A Grayson County Jury found Kelvon Eugene Gray, 29, guilty of murder Thursday for shooting and killing 20-year-old Tahbari Collins of Houston on August 24, 2017, on U.S. Highway 75 in Howe.
The jury reached their decision after less than 90 minutes of deliberation following two-and-a-half days of testimony in the 15th District Court in Sherman. The jury took another hour to decide that Gray deserved to spend the next 60 years in prison. The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Keyre Ashmore and Assistant District Attorney Nathan Young.
The shooting stemmed from botched drug deal in Tushka, Oklahoma, involving $10 of marijuana. Collins, of Houston, left Tushka with two others and headed south toward Texas and Gray followed in a black Toyota Camry.
Witnesses described the Camry as speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before it eventually caught up to the Veloster in the 1100 block of U.S. Highway 75 south in Howe. It was there that Gray fired five shots from a semi-automatic pistol into the Collins’ car, two of which struck and killed Collins who was in the front passenger seat. There were no other injuries.
The investigation involved investigators from the Howe Police Department, the Texas Rangers, and the Plano and Kansas City Police Departments. After a lengthy investigation, investigators identified Gray as the killer and Howe officers arrested him at his home in Kansas City, Missouri. He was extradited to Texas in June 2019.