CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A man who spent nearly two decades in prison for one of the most notorious crimes in Ross County history is back behind bars just months after his release, according to jail records.
Thomas McCray was taken into custody on May 1 and charged with menacing. He is currently being held on a parole holder at the Ross County Jail.
McCray’s return to custody comes after his release following the completion of a 20-year prison sentence stemming from the 2001 murder of Stephanie Evans, a 21-year-old Ross County woman whose death shocked the region and sparked a national manhunt.
Evans was found dead along the banks of the Scioto River in April 2001. Two fishermen had discovered her 2-year-old son sitting alone in a car seat at the end of a dirt trail, having spent the night outside in cold temperatures. A blood trail led investigators to Evans’ body, which was found partially submerged in the river under rocks. The Montgomery County Coroner determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head. She was found bound with her hands tied behind her back.
McCray fled the area and spent roughly a year eluding law enforcement, traveling across multiple states with a group known as the Rainbow Association. He was featured on the television program America’s Most Wanted in 2002. His capture came after a tip from his girlfriend led investigators to a Canadian prison where he was being held under an assumed name on unrelated charges. He was extradited to the United States following the completion of his Canadian sentence.
Originally charged with aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping, child endangering, and aggravated robbery, McCray pleaded guilty in December 2006 to an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 2025 after completing that sentence.
McCray also remains a person of interest in the unsolved 2001 murder of Ella Mae Grant, an 83-year-old Ross County real estate agent who was found shot to death in what police described as an attempted burglary. That case has never been closed.
Additional details about McCray’s current charges have not been released.