The Murder of JaRay Wilson
JaRay Wilson was a 16-year-old living in Oklahoma. Her friends described her as having a great spirit and always making those around her smile. JaRay was an only child and lived with her parents.
On 14 October 2012 JaRay was picked up from her home in the afternoon, she never returned home and was reported missing by her family the next day. JaRay had expressed concerns about a drug debt she had to friends; before her disappearance, she had also told them that she was worried about being sold into prostitution to pay off a debt to her dealer. JaRay's dealer was investigated but cooperated with authorities and was later cleared and determined not to be involved in the disappearance.
On 17th October 2013, Cody Godfrey confessed to witnessing JaRay's murder. He told authorities that she had been killed on the last night she was seen and that he, JaRay and two other males, Tucker McGee and Caleb McLemore, had gone to smoke marijuana together in a field near JaRay's home. He had seen McGee shoot JaRay in the head at night. McGee was arrested and charged with murder, Godfrey was arrested and charged with thinking accessory to murder.
Godfrey was a key witness at trial, he testified that McGee had complained to him about JaRay saying that she was 'annoying' and had shown Godfrey his gun and said, 'We should just go and kill JaRay.' He had initially thought that this was a joke. Shortly before JaRay was killed she texted a friend saying 'I feel sketched out. I can't go home?' While JaRay had been looking at her phone McGee had pulled out his gun and shot her in the head killing her instantly. McGee and Godfrey threw JaRay's body over a fence and hid it under a tree. The next day the three boys returned to the crime scene to move the body. They found JaRay's phone when they returned and smashed it and threw it into a creek. They then hid JaRay's body in a field where it was undiscovered until Godfrey led police to it over a year later.
McGee was found guilty of first-degree murder, he was too young to be eligible for the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. McLemore was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Godfrey was given a suspended sentence due to the fact he had confessed and testified against McGee.
