Bail $750,000 in fatal break-in

Judge hears account of robbery in which child threatened

LITTLE ROCK -- Before he died fighting the three armed robbers at his Little Rock home, Raymond Earl Grayson Jr. watched the masked intruders threaten the life of his 4-year-old son as they demanded that the 34-year-old father of two give up whatever drugs, guns and money he had in the house.

His mother, Brenda Starr-Reams, 55, and girlfriend, Mikkeitha Skeet, 27, heard Grayson shot to death. The robbers had rousted the family of four from sleep at gunpoint, herding the women into a bathroom. They confronted Grayson separately, threatening to kill his son in front of him and beating Grayson as they made their demands.

The robbers were gone by time police got to the home at 7371 Fairways Drive, where officers found Grayson dead of a gunshot in the head.

But the killers were forced to leave behind at least some of what they had intended to steal. Officers also discovered some of the family's possessions bagged by the back door.

That was the scenario laid out Thursday by deputy prosecutor Christy Bjornson and Little Rock detective Matt Harrelson for Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims, barely two years after the February 2019 fatal home invasion.

Together in court, the prosecutor and police officer described the series of events and the evidence at a bail hearing for the only man to be arrested so far in the case, Keagan Bryce Latham, 24, who is charged with capital murder and aggravated residential burglary.

Latham became a suspect after his fingerprint was found on the wrapper of a cigarillo package inside the bagged items in the house. Another of his prints was discovered on the back of Grayson's car in the garage, next to a broken window that investigators believe the killers used to get into the home, Harrelson testified.

Checking the prints and tracking down Latham took about a year, and when police questioned Grayson for the first time in March 2020, he denied knowing Grayson or ever being in or around the victim's home, Harrelson told the judge.

But when detectives checked Latham's cellphone records, they found his phone had been in use in Grayson's neighborhood for almost an hour before he was killed, ending three minutes before police were called to the scene, according to the detective.

That finding led to police obtaining an arrest warrant for Latham, and he was apprehended in April, about a month later, in Memphis where he had moved since being questioned by police. Latham has been jailed ever since.

After his arrest, Latham told police in a "detailed" statement that he had been at the home during the break-in and robbery but said he had carried an unloaded gun, Harrelson testified, saying he believed Latham had been truthful and cooperative in that interview. Latham said he had given the clothes he wore that night to his confederates who disposed of them, the detective said.

No one else has been charged. Authorities have leads on the other two robbers, but Harrelson could not speak about the ongoing investigation because it has been taken over by the police cold-case squad. The judge also heard claims that Grayson's family have seen internet videos showing people wearing his clothes and jewelry, but police have been unable to confirm that.

Defense attorney Andrew Thornton asked the judge to consider bail of $100,000 to take into consideration how Latham has cooperated with the investigation but Sims sided with Bjornson, who asked for $750,000 bail, calling Grayson's slaying "absolutely horrifying" and the treatment of his son "heinous."

Court records show Latham has a felony conviction for having a stolen gun about two weeks after Grayson was killed. According to a report, Latham was arrested at a February 2019 gun show at the State Fairgrounds after trying to sell a stolen pistol to a dealer who was suspicious. Latham was sentenced to three years of probation in October 2019 after pleading guilty to theft by receiving. It was his first offense, court records show.

Grayson, a father of two, was a disabled Army and National Guard combat veteran who served two tours in Iraq before being honorably discharged because of his injuries, his family said.

Court records show Grayson was also a felon who had been on probation for repeated drug offenses for the last seven years of his life, up until about four months before he was killed.

Grayson had been facing domestic violence and firearm possession charges when he died, stemming from an arrest in August 2017 over accusations he had threatened Skeet with a gun and beaten her at the couple's home at 7623 Denise Drive. Grayson stated he was acting in self-defense, court filings show.

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