This Young Girl Grew Up To Become One Of The Most Evil Women In America
A California woman serving a life sentence for a series of brutal attacks is once again attracting attention, though not for the crimes that placed her behind bars. Dana Sue Gray, now 67, has emerged in recent years as an outspoken advocate for incarcerated women, a transformation that many observers view as deeply ironic given her violent past.
Gray has spent nearly three decades in prison after admitting to multiple attacks carried out in Southern California during the mid-1990s. In a 2024 interview, she described her current efforts to support fellow inmates, stating, “Most women are taught to stay quiet and follow orders — that’s why so many don’t push back.” Her comments have reignited public discussion, drawing renewed scrutiny to the crimes that once horrified investigators and the community.
Before her imprisonment, Gray was linked to a disturbing sequence of assaults targeting elderly women in affluent neighborhoods. Prosecutors have long maintained that not all of her alleged crimes were fully addressed in the plea agreement that ultimately spared her from the death penalty in 1998. The violence, investigators said, appeared deliberate and personal, leaving a lasting impression on those assigned to the case.
The investigation began on February 16, 1994, when police entered a Canyon Lake home and found 86-year-old Norma Davis dead. She had been stabbed repeatedly and strangled with a phone cord. Detective Joseph Greco described the scene as excessive and deeply unsettling. “It was personal,” he said, later referring to the attack as “overkill.”
A small sneaker print discovered in the kitchen stood out to investigators, as it did not match the victim or her caregivers. “That’s when I first considered the attacker could be a woman,” Greco recalled. At the time, Gray was not considered a suspect. Detectives initially examined members of the victim’s extended family, including Davis’ former daughter-in-law and her stepdaughter, Dana Gray, but lacked sufficient evidence to move forward.
As the case stalled, few could have anticipated that a far more alarming pattern was about to emerge.