Jimmy Lee Gray was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1977. His conviction was reversed and remanded for retrial in 1979, where he was again found guilty and sentenced to death. Gray and his legal team directly appealed the conviction, then petitioned for both writ of certiorari and habeas corpus relief. All were denied.

Gray was executed by gas chamber on September 2nd, 1983. His execution was considered botched and led to Mississippi switching to lethal injection for death sentences, although the change took almost twenty years to be implemented.

via Jimmy Lee GRAY v. STATE of Mississippi (No. 50159), Jimmy Lee GRAY v. STATE of Mississippi (No. 51227), and Jimmy Lee Gray, Petitioner-appellant, v. Eddie Lucas and the State of Mississippi, Respondents-appellees (710 F.2d 1048).