GREENVILLE, S.C. -- An Upstate mother accused of putting her 555-pound son in danger was back in court for a bond hearing Friday afternoon.A judge denied a request to reduce Jerri Gray's $50,000 bond.
Gray's attorney, Grant Varner, spoke on his client's behalf. "If anything, she's guilty of loving her child too much. She did not want to lose her child and I can't honestly blame her," Varner said.
Gray has been charged with unlawful neglect toward a child and custodial interference, after investigators said she fled to Baltimore, Md., with her 555-pound son Alexander Draper to avoid a family court hearing on May 19th.
The 14-year-old was supposed to be taken into protective custody after officials determined that the teenager was considered to be at a critical stage of health risk.
"Supposedly her son has been gaining a half a pound a day. How and why - we can't really explain that. My client has asserted to me that it's not because of the food she feeds him. He eats a fairly balanced diet," Varner said.
But prosecutor Samantha Adair told the judge Gray had not complied with DSS guidelines to help her son.
"The victim even had a scholarship to attend a hospital in New Hampshire for which she refused to send her son," Adair said. "So DSS has a completely different story that she's been very non-compliant with their program."
The judge felt Gray was a flight risk again and refused to lower the bond.
Alexander is in foster care through DSS, but Gray's attorney said he'll try to have him placed with family.
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