Police say a false account of Grayson Walton’s whereabouts unraveled before investigators found the 11-month-old dead in a Cleaton home.

CENTRAL CITY, Ky. — A murder case involving the death of 11-month-old Grayson Walton has moved toward grand-jury consideration after police said the teenager caring for him gave investigators a false account of where the child had gone before officers found Grayson dead inside a nearby home. Elijah Drew Mayes, 19, faces murder and several related charges, and a judge has found probable cause for the case to proceed.

The investigation began Sept. 12, when Central City police responded at about 5:10 p.m. to a disturbance in the 800 block of Harrison Avenue. Grayson’s father told officers that his son had been left in Mayes’ care while he was at work. Police said Mayes told them that a family friend had picked up the baby at about 10 p.m. the previous night. Officers located that person and interviewed her, and she said she had not taken Grayson. That contradiction shifted what began as a search for a missing infant into a broader investigation involving multiple homes, vehicles, search warrants and interviews.

A relative gave police another important piece of the timeline. According to investigators, the relative reported last seeing Grayson with Mayes at a home in the 300 block of Hillview Street in Cleaton. Police continued interviewing people connected to the case and first obtained a warrant to search a Harrison Avenue residence and a vehicle there. Authorities said they found suspected methamphetamine in a dresser drawer in a bedroom associated with Mayes. That discovery resulted in a controlled-substance charge but did not resolve the urgent question of where Grayson was. Investigators then obtained another warrant for the Hillview Street residence and a vehicle at that location.

During the Hillview Street search, police found Grayson dead inside the house. Later reporting based on a criminal citation said officers found the baby concealed inside a couch. The citation described bruising on his body and what investigators believed appeared to be teeth marks on his stomach. Those details are allegations contained in investigative records and have not been established at trial. Authorities have not publicly released a final cause and manner of death in the material reviewed for this report. The absence of a publicly confirmed medical finding leaves an important part of the case unresolved even as prosecutors pursue a murder charge.

Investigators also accused Mayes of taking additional steps to support the account that someone else had collected the child. According to the criminal citation described by local news organizations, police believe Mayes created a false phone number and sent messages to himself while posing as the person he claimed had picked up Grayson. Police have characterized the messages as an attempt to support his explanation of the child’s disappearance. That allegation is significant because prosecutors have also charged Mayes with tampering with physical evidence. The precise evidence prosecutors intend to use to prove each charge will be tested as the case moves through court.

Mayes was arrested and booked into the Muhlenberg County Detention Center. Police announced charges of murder, first-degree criminal abuse, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse and first-degree possession of a controlled substance involving methamphetamine. Earlier court reporting said his bond was set at $1 million cash only. Mayes has pleaded not guilty. The charges are accusations, and the probable-cause finding does not establish guilt. It means the court found sufficient grounds at this stage for the criminal case to continue toward consideration in the higher court process.

The investigation later produced a second arrest. Jeff Barnett, identified by police as Grayson’s step-grandfather, was charged with tampering with physical evidence. Court and police records cited by local news outlets listed Barnett’s address as the Hillview Street home where Grayson was found. Authorities have not accused Barnett of killing the child in the material reviewed for this report, and his evidence-tampering charge is separate from the murder allegation against Mayes. Both men appeared in court Sept. 17 as investigators continued examining what happened at the residence and how Grayson came to be concealed there.

The court case continued after the first appearances. By Oct. 1, local reporting said a judge had found probable cause in Mayes’ case and ordered it bound over for grand-jury consideration. Circuit Court Clerk Camron Laycock said Oct. 16 had been discussed as a tentative grand-jury date but that the timing would depend on the commonwealth’s attorney. No later public record reviewed for this report establishes that an indictment was returned on that date. The distinction matters because a probable-cause finding and a grand-jury indictment are procedural stages, not findings that the accused committed the crimes charged.

While investigators and courts dealt with evidence and procedure, Grayson’s family buried a child who had been approaching his first birthday. An obituary said Grayson Eli Walton was born Sept. 26, 2025, in Owensboro and died Sept. 13, 2026. His family remembered him as a happy baby who loved water, children’s programming and playing with other children. Funeral services were held Sept. 17 at Tucker Funeral Home in Central City, followed by burial at Miller Cemetery. A memorial fund was established to help the family with funeral and related expenses.

The death also drew a public response in Cleaton, where residents gathered for a candlelight vigil. Community members described the grief as extending beyond Grayson’s immediate relatives in the small Muhlenberg County community. Pastor Jennifer Banks told local reporters that people were heartbroken and said a small community tends to experience such a loss collectively. Organizer Georgina Sailing said those gathered wanted Grayson’s name remembered and hoped the court process would bring justice. Family members attended but largely declined interviews as they mourned.

The case now rests on evidence that will face greater scrutiny as prosecutors decide how to present it and the defense challenges the allegations. Investigators have publicly described an alleged false story about Grayson being picked up, electronic messages they believe were created to reinforce that account, the discovery of suspected methamphetamine and the location and condition in which officers said they found the child. What has not been publicly established includes a final medical explanation of Grayson’s death and the full circumstances leading to it.

The investigation that began with a missing-child report has now entered a slower legal phase. A judge has already found probable cause to advance the case against Mayes, but the reviewed public record does not establish a later indictment or trial date. Any next step will come through prosecutors and the courts rather than the police search that first brought officers to the Hillview Street home. Mayes remains accused of the crimes, while Barnett separately faces an evidence-tampering charge.

Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.