Man beaten before dying, body taken to burn pile in Lafayette, court records claim

Before Cecil Gray's body was found in a burn pile, he was beaten and restrained, then later stuffed inside a mattress, according to court documents.

The 48-year-old's charred remains were found on Sept. 30, 2021, on private property on Burbank Road in Lafayette Parish. He loved his family, according to his obituary.

"Wayne was not a saint but he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," his family wrote in his obituary. "He will be dearly missed by his family and friends."

Three people have been charged in connection with his death. Mitchell Lemaire and Sarah Johnson each have been charged with first-degree murder. Randall Figard was charged with second-degree kidnapping, illegal disposal of substance that endangers human life or health, and obstruction of justice.

All three have pleaded not guilty in their separate cases.

Johnson's attorney, Kirk Piccione, said his client's resolution ultimately depends on Lemaire's. He also said the case would probably be delayed after Lemaire obtained a new attorney.

Lemaire and Figard's attorneys had no comment.

What do investigators think happened before Cecil Gray's death?

Three people, including Johnson and Figard, told Lafayette Parish Sheriff's investigators the same thing — Gray was in a fight on Sept. 26, 2021.

The affidavit does not say what led to the fight.

Johnson, Gray, and another man were at a house on West Congress Street. When Figard arrived, he hit Gray, causing him to fall to the ground, Johnson told investigators, according to the arrest affidavit. Once Gray was on the ground, the other man started to hit and kick Gray. Figard later told investigators the man used brass knuckles.

The man picked Gray up and put him in Gray's rented truck. The group then went to Lemaire's home on Stutes Road, where Lemaire began to "physically assault" Gray with a rubber tee ball stand or club, according to the affidavit. Figard told investigators Lemaire bound Gray's hands and placed tie straps around his neck, according to the filing.

Lemaire then forced Gray back into the truck.

After leaving the Stutes Road residence, what witnesses told investigators differed, according to the affidavit.

Figard said he and Johnson left in her truck but did not say where they went.

Johnson said she and Figard rode together to her house on Karen Street and Figard told her to go into a back bedroom, according to the filing. She said she heard a power drill and about 30 minutes later was allowed to leave the room. She said she saw Lemaire enter the house through the back door and saw Gray's rented truck in the backyard. She told investigators the door to the mother-in-law's suite was screwed shut.

Another witness told investigators he was at the Congress Street house and at Lemaire's home. He said he did not immediately go to Karen Street but instead waited about an hour. When he was on his way, he received a call and was told "(Gray) didn't make it," according to the affidavit.

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The witness said when he got to the Karen Street house, he went into a bedroom with Figard, Johnson and Lemaire. He told detectives "it was insinuated that Cecil Wayne Gray was dead," according to the affidavit.

When the man returned the next day, he told investigators Johnson said "he is under the stairs," according to the filing. The closet in the mother-in-law's suite is under the stairs, the investigator wrote in his affidavit. The man told investigators the door to the mother-in-law's suite was screwed and nailed shut and there was a foul smell in the home.

Johnson and Figard both told detectives that on Sept. 29, 2021, they drove to Burbank Drive in Gray's rented truck to throw items into a friend's burn pile. They both said the mattress had a large wooden board attached to it and was secured by a strap, but both said they did not know there was a body inside the mattress, according to the affidavit.

Johnson said the mattress may have been one that she placed outside and recently went missing.

The affidavit does not list what caused Gray's death.

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Investigators later searched the Karen Street house. Crime scene analysts used a chemical agent and found a "large amount" of blood on the floors and walls of a closet inside the mother-in-law's suite, according to the affidavit. There were nails still in the closet door "appearing to be used to secure the door from the outside of the closet."

Investigators found credit cards registered to Gray in a pantry. They also found mattress springs and internal cushioning, according to the affidavit.

Security footage from the night of Sept. 26, 2021, showed two trucks, one that appeared to be the same as Gray's rented truck and another that appeared to be a truck driven by Johnson. In the footage, one person, who is not identified, gets out of the rented truck and others chase that person before the trucks leave the area.

The second truck was later processed by crime scene analysts, who found blood on the rear passenger door.

Figard has a scheduled court hearing in October, Johnson has a hearing scheduled in January and Lemaire has a court hearing scheduled in February.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Man beaten before body found in Lafayette burn pile, court records say