Marissa Alexander’s Husband Rico Gray Speaks Out About Her Case

Father of jailed Florida woman’s daughter says he would not wish prison sentence on anyone

Rico Gray, the man who has been previously identified as Marissa Alexander’s abusive husband, is speaking out about his estranged wife’s case and about the relationship he hopes her family can have with their daughter (pictured left.)

Gray had previously turned down Loop 21’s request for an interview, but changed his mind after Florida State Attorney Angela Corey this week spoke to the media about the facts of Alexander’s “Stand Your Ground” case.

In a Wednesday morning phone interview, Gray did not deny having a contemptuous relationship with Alexander and her family, or that he has been violent with her and with women he’s been romantically involved with in the past.

But Gray says recent accounts of the shooting incident, for which his wife faces 20 years in prison, were one-sided.

“I don’t go around just jumping on women…that’s not me,” said Gray, in dispute of the habitual domestic abuse claims made by Alexander and her family.

“My family has been totally quiet,” Gray continued. “The only reason why they’ve been quiet is because of me. I told them not to (speak out.)”

[GET THE LATEST IN THE MARISSA ALEXANDER CASE]

Gray says he feared for his life and the lives of his two sons on the day that Alexander fired a gun near them. Although she tried to claim the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground defense, Alexander was convicted in March on 3 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She will be sentenced on Friday.

“When the incident happened, I thought I was going to die in front of my kids that day,” Gray said. “I really thought that August 1, 2010 was going to be last day of my life. She had that gun pointed at me, with my son clinched at my side.”

“I want it to be known that there wasn’t any gun pointed at the ceiling,” Gray added. “She pointed the gun at me…and my kids.”

On Monday, Corey backed up Gray’s story and blasted media reports that recount certain details of the shooting incident differently. Corey, along with Alexander’s attorney Kevin Cobbin, acknowledged that certain information was kept from the media to not influence a possible retrial of the case. A judge denied Cobbin’s motion for new trial last Thursday.

In an interview with Loop 21 on Monday, Alexander said Gray is not to be believed, as he has changed the story he swore to in a deposition. Gray acknowledged changing the story, but only because of a violent encounter that occurred months after the shooting incident, for which Alexander was convicted and received probation. Gray says he lied in the deposition at Alexander’s request. His wife denies that claim.