May 26, 2021

Empire’s Bryshere Gray Sentenced to 10 Days in Jail Following Domestic Violence Charges

By Lillian Searles

27-year-old Empire actor, Bryshere Gray, has been sentenced to spend 10 days in an Arizona county jail after pleading guilty to assaulting his wife. 

 

About seven months after he was first arrested for strangling his wife, he pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated assault.  

 

The other related charges against him, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping, were dropped, per his plea agreement. 

 

In addition to his 10-day jail stay, Gray will have to complete three years of probation, in which he will be required to have no contact with the victim in any form, unless approved by the Adult Probation Department in Arizona. 

 

He has been ordered to pay restitution and enroll in a domestic violence offender treatment program, and he is required to check in with his probation officer within 72 hours of being contacted by law enforcement and needs written approval from police before associating with anyone who has a criminal record.

 

He must also refrain from consuming any kind of illegal drugs and will have to submit to drug and alcohol testing, and he can’t possess any kinds of firearms including stun guns or tasers.

 

Gray, best known for portraying Hakeem Lyon on Empire, had first been arrested in Goodyear, Arizona in connection with the domestic violence incident on July 13, 2020. 

 

Police said at the time, they had first responded to a convenience store in the area around 10:15 p.m. after receiving a 911 call alerting them to a woman who had been assaulted. The victim, later confirmed to have been Gray’s wife, had flagged down a citizen for help after she said she had been assaulted at home for “hours” by Gray.

 

Gray’s wife allegedly had “numerous visible injuries on her body and also stated that she was strangled at one point and temporarily lost consciousness.”

 

Initially, Gray barricaded himself inside his home and refused to exit when officers arrived.

 

SWAT and Crisis Negotiations officials were then dispersed to the home, where Gray later surrendered to authorities without incident early the following morning. He was then taken into custody and booked on domestic violence charges.

 

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