The ruling moves the prosecution forward as investigators allege Elijah Mayes fabricated messages after Grayson Walton disappeared while in his care.
MUHLENBERG COUNTY, Ky. — A judge has found probable cause for the criminal case against 19-year-old Elijah Drew Mayes to continue after prosecutors accused him of murder in the death of an 11-month-old boy he had been entrusted to watch. The ruling sends the case involving Grayson Walton toward grand-jury review while leaving Mayes’ guilt or innocence unresolved.
The probable-cause decision is the most recent publicly confirmed procedural development in a case that began with a missing-child report and quickly became a homicide investigation. Mayes faces 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. He has pleaded not guilty. A clerk said a grand-jury date had tentatively been discussed for Oct. 16, although the timing was left to the commonwealth’s attorney. The available public reporting reviewed through Oct. 21 does not confirm that a grand jury returned an indictment on that date.
At this stage, the prosecution’s account relies in part on what investigators say Mayes told them and what they later found while checking that story. Central City police were called at about 5:10 p.m. Sept. 12 to the 800 block of Harrison Avenue. Grayson’s father told officers that Mayes had been caring for the baby while the father worked. Police said Mayes claimed a family friend had picked up Grayson at approximately 10 p.m. the prior evening. Investigators contacted the woman he identified, and she denied that she had taken the child.
The investigation did not stop with the conflicting statements. According to a criminal citation later described by local news outlets, police believe Mayes used a fabricated phone number to send messages to himself while posing as the person he claimed had picked up Grayson. Investigators alleged the messages were intended to strengthen his explanation of the baby’s absence. The state has not yet proved that allegation in court, but the claimed attempt to manufacture supporting communications adds a separate evidentiary dimension to the case beyond the initial verbal statement police say Mayes gave them.
Police also developed information placing Grayson with Mayes at a second address. A relative told investigators that the child had last been seen with Mayes at a residence in the 300 block of Hillview Street in Cleaton. Before searching that location, officers obtained a warrant for the Harrison Avenue home and a vehicle there. Police said the Harrison Avenue search produced suspected methamphetamine from a dresser drawer in a bedroom Mayes used. That discovery became the basis for the drug charge and was separate from the later search that led officers to Grayson.
Investigators then secured a warrant for the Hillview Street residence and a vehicle. Officers found Grayson dead inside the home. Subsequent court-document reporting said his body was concealed inside a couch. The citation described widespread bruising and what officers believed appeared to be teeth marks on his stomach. Those observations are allegations documented during the investigation rather than final medical conclusions. Authorities had not publicly released a definitive cause and manner of death in the sources reviewed for this article, an important unanswered question in a prosecution that includes both murder and criminal-abuse counts.
The location where Grayson was found later became central to a second criminal case. Police arrested Jeff Barnett, whom they identified as Grayson’s step-grandfather. Barnett’s listed address matched the Hillview Street residence, according to court information cited by local broadcasters. He faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence. Authorities have not charged Barnett with Grayson’s killing in the available records. That distinction separates the allegations against the two defendants: Mayes faces the murder and abuse accusations, while Barnett’s publicly reported case concerns alleged evidence tampering.
Mayes and Barnett both appeared in court Sept. 17. Earlier reporting said Mayes was being held on a $1 million cash-only bond, while later coverage documented the preliminary proceedings that led to the probable-cause finding. Such a finding does not require prosecutors to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, it allows the prosecution to move forward to the next stage. If the case is presented to a grand jury, jurors would consider whether there is sufficient evidence to return an indictment. An indictment, if issued, likewise would be an accusation rather than a conviction.
The court record also underscores how much remains outside public view. Investigators have disclosed the alleged false pickup story, the claimed self-directed text messages, the searches of the two properties, the drug discovery and the condition in which officers said Grayson was found. They have not publicly established in the sources reviewed exactly when the child died, precisely what caused his death or a motive for the alleged killing. Those unanswered questions are likely to become important as prosecutors present evidence and Mayes’ defense evaluates the state’s case.
Grayson’s death occurred less than two weeks before his first birthday. His obituary identified him as Grayson Eli Walton, born Sept. 26, 2025, in Owensboro. Family members remembered him as an outgoing, happy baby who loved water and playing with other children. He was buried Sept. 17 after a service at Tucker Funeral Home in Central City. The obituary listed his parents, sister and extended relatives and announced a memorial fund for funeral and related expenses.
That same week, residents gathered at a candlelight vigil in Cleaton. The public event focused less on the developing evidence than on the loss of the child at the center of the case. Pastor Jennifer Banks told reporters that residents throughout the small community were devastated. Georgina Sailing, who helped organize the gathering, said participants wanted Grayson to be remembered and hoped justice would follow through the legal process. The gathering took place while the first court appearances were beginning, placing the community’s grief alongside a judicial process that may take considerably longer to resolve.
Central City police said numerous agencies assisted, including Kentucky State Police, the FBI, local police and fire departments, emergency-management personnel and the Muhlenberg County Coroner’s Office. That wide response began as a search for a missing baby and developed within hours into a multi-agency death investigation. Police have said the investigation remains active, meaning additional forensic findings, witness evidence or charging decisions could still emerge.
What prosecutors can ultimately prove remains separate from what investigators have alleged. The state has described disputed statements, electronic messages, search results and the circumstances in which Grayson was found, but a final publicly released medical explanation for his death was not included in the material reviewed. The probable-cause ruling allows the prosecution to continue; it does not resolve those evidentiary questions or determine Mayes’ guilt.
Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.