Local rape suspect nabbed after
three-month search
By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
Sept. 6, 2003
A Meridian man accused of raping two local teenage girls remained in the Lauderdale County jail Friday without bond.
Meridian police arrested Billy Ray Bradley, 46, of 2427 Fourth Ave. Thursday on North Frontage Road and charged him with three counts of forcible rape and felony possession of a firearm.
Police also arrested Bradley's girlfriend, Leslie N. Grady, 31, also of 2427 Fourth Ave, and charged her with sexual battery. It was not immediately known if the charges are connected.
Thursday's arrest ended a three-month search for Bradley, who allegedly raped two different teenage girls, one of them twice, in separate instances in Meridian between May and July.
McMullen said Bradley and Grady have been "hiding out" in Moss Point and Georgia while Meridian police searched for them.
The cases of Bradley and Grady are both expected to be presented to a grand jury that convenes in November.