Ashland’s house of horrors, the one in which Shawn Grate murdered two women and held another captive, will be reduced to rubble.
The vacant and now foreclosed home sits on Covert Court where Shawn Grate murdered Stacey Stanley and Elizabeth Griffith.
Grate is currently awaiting sentencing for the crimes while the city is in the middle of plans to tear the house down. Mayor Matt Miller says once the county prosecutor gives the city the green light, it will move forward with the plans.
Boarded up and dilapidated, the home on Covert Court has now become a painful reminder of an unspeakable crime.
“In many ways it has become a memorial to one of the greatest tragedies that has happened in our area," Mayor Miller said.
In 2016, police responded to the home after a 911 call from a woman Shawn Grate was holding captive. It was at that location where they discovered the bodies of Stanley and Griffith.
“Throughout the trial and so on, it is still a crime scene and people wanted to make sure all the evidence was still intact,” said Mayor Miller.
But the community wanted to see it torn down, as well as the other vacant home beside it.
The homes were both owned by Pump House Ministries, which later transferred ownership to the city as part of a foreclosure settlement.
Early on, Mayor Miller said the cost of demolition was a big concern. At one point, the city looked into a grant to cover it.
“We were unsuccessful at that time, but the truth is that doesn’t even matter,” said Mayor Miller.
Mayor Miller said two local private contractors have volunteered to do the job.
A jury recommended two death sentences for Grate. A judge will decide next month if he should die for his crimes.
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