A Delaware County jury found Jacob Grayson guilty of neglect in his daughter's 2022 shooting death.

The jury's verdict is a conviction on those four counts. It is not a sentence. WRTV and the FOX 59 account WIBC published disagree on the sentencing date, and on whether Kimberly Grayson was convicted in March or found incompetent to stand trial in June.

WRTV reported that prosecutors said a Delaware County jury deliberated for almost eight hours before finding Jacob Grayson, 32, of Muncie guilty of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and three counts of neglect of a dependent. WIBC published a FOX 59 report the same day that the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office announced guilty verdicts on one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, and three counts of neglect of a dependent, Level 6 felonies, after a trial that began Oct. 5. WRTV's story said he could face up to 50 years in one sentence and up to nearly 50 years in another, and that a sentencing date has not been set. WIBC reported he is set to be sentenced Nov. 12, that the Level 1 count is punishable by 20 to 40 years and up to a $10,000 fine, and that each Level 6 count is punishable by six months to two and a half years and up to a $10,000 fine. WRTV and WIBC published the verdict on Oct. 14. Neither stated whether the jury returned it on Oct. 13 or on Oct. 14.

WRTV reported the case comes from Grayson's July 2022 arrest. The station reported Muncie police went to the home on the afternoon of July 26, and that Grayson told police his 6-year-old son got a firearm from a gun safe and accidentally shot and killed his 5-year-old sister. WRTV reported Grayson also told police the boy had gotten into the safe before, that Grayson moved the safe and did not put it out of the boy's reach, that the key may have been left in the keyhole, that two firearms were inside, and that he had taken his son to a shooting range to show him how to use a gun. WIBC's FOX 59 account reported officers went to the 2800 block of South Monroe Street, found a 5-year-old girl who had been shot in the head, and that she was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where she died. That account reported the boy told police he got the gun from a safe in his parents' dresser while his mother was asleep, that the key was already in the keyhole, and that he accidentally shot his sister while playing with the gun. FOX 59's July 26, 2022, story reported the call came at about 2:25 p.m. and quoted Deputy Chief Melissa Criswell saying a 6-year-old sibling had retrieved a gun from a safe and accidentally shot his sister. The Star Press reported on Aug. 3, 2022, that formal charges had been filed against Jacob Curtis Grayson, then 28, and Kimberly Danielle Grayson, then 27, on the Level 1 count, which the paper said carried up to 40 years, and three Level 6 counts, which the paper said carried maximum 30-month sentences, in Delaware Circuit Court 5. The Star Press reported Jacob Grayson posted a $65,000 bond. Outlets covering the verdict have not printed the children's names. They are not named here.

WRTV reported police called the living conditions deplorable, and that court documents described food, animal feces, and trash in the house, with the children's beds as stained mattresses on the floor and no sheets or blankets. WIBC reported an officer also described feces smeared on the walls and furniture scattered through the house, and described the counts as one for placing his daughter in a situation that ended in her death, one for allowing his son unsupervised access to a firearm, and two for the condition of the home. Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said, in remarks WRTV and WIBC both published, "The facts of this case and the utter disregard for the safety of these young children make me want to puke. This 5-year-old child should have never had access to a firearm." He said, "Every parent has an absolute affirmative duty to protect their own child. Jacob Grayson and his wife Kimberly miserably failed at this very basic parental duty."

Kimberly Grayson's status is told two ways. WRTV reported she was also charged in their daughter's death and was deemed incompetent to stand trial in June 2026. FOX 59, in a March 13, 2026, update on its 2022 story, reported she was convicted that day after a four-day trial on one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and three counts of neglect of a dependent, and that she would be sentenced April 13, 2026. WIBC's Oct. 14 FOX 59 report said she was convicted of the same charges in March 2026 and that court records say sentencing has been delayed because she lacks the ability to understand the proceedings and assist her defense. A March conviction after trial and a June ruling that she was incompetent to stand trial describe different steps. The Oct. 14 stories do not settle which account controls. Jacob Grayson's verdict is the jury's finding on the counts it heard. Sentencing is still ahead of him. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.