Stephan Gene Gray, a 34-year-old Merced police officer, was killed on April 15, 2004 while conducting a traffic stop in the 1900 block of Glen Avenue in central Merced. Gray was in an unmarked patrol car when a male passenger, 21-year-old Tahuna Tao Rivera, resisted a search and fled on foot. Officer Gray pursued; Rivera turned and fired, striking Gray twice. Gray was taken to Mercy Community Campus Hospital and died of his wounds.

Rivera was captured 17 days later outside Chowchilla. He was convicted of Gray’s murder and sentenced to death. Gray was the first Merced officer killed in the line of duty since the department was founded in 1889. A portion of Route 99 in Merced has been named the Officer Stephan Gene Gray Memorial Highway in his honor.

If anyone has memories of Officer Gray, the April 15, 2004 stop, or information about that night, please share what you know.