My mother watched me climb into Devonte’s truck that cold January morning. She had begged me to be careful, told me she didn’t trust him, reminded me that he had lost custody of his oldest son and owed thousands in back child support. She said most men don’t like that. I told her I loved her and left.
That was the last time she ever saw me alive. My name was Alexis Scheler. I was twenty-nine years old, a mother of three children I adored. Devonte Gray was the father of one of them, my on-again, off-again boyfriend.
On January 10th, 2025, my mother was watching my kids and helping me move. When I walked out her back door with Devonte, she warned me again. I said I love you, bye, and I never came back. My mother, Tana, had reasons to worry.
I never told her Devonte was physically violent with me, but she suspected he was verbally abusive. He had even filed a protection order against me once, which was dismissed because there was no factual basis for it. But the police in Capitol Heights, Maryland, knew something else. They had a long history of domestic violence calls to Devonte’s address on Larchmont Street, stretching back eight months.
The most recent call came on January 9th, 2025. Devonte himself placed it. He told the call taker he was having a domestic dispute with me, that he had a gun, and that if I entered the home, there was going to be problems. When police responded, they saw me alive, driving by his house.
They cleared the call. I was still alive that day. On January 11th, Devonte dropped off his child to the mother of his other children. He told her he was going to jail, but he wouldn’t say anything else.
Not long after, my mother got a suspicious call from him. He asked her if she knew where I was. She said, “The last time I saw her, she got into your truck and left with you. ” He said, “Yeah, but she called an Uber from my house.
” He tried to put everyone in different circles, tried to make it seem like I went with this person or that person. Around the same time, Devonte made a post online and tagged me. He wrote about false claims and people trying to blame him. He said he loved me most, that we were planning our life together the day I went missing.
He said he never laid a finger on me. He called himself a victim, said people broke into his house looking for me and found nothing. He wrote that I was his woman carrying his baby, and he promised he would never fold on me. He asked me to just call his phone and say I was okay.
My mother believed I was in danger. She couldn’t reach me, and on January 14th, she filed a missing person’s report with the local police. On Sunday, January 19th, officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department served a warrant at that home on Larchmont Street, the home owned by Devonte Gray. As they entered the residence, they noticed a weird odor.
The place was dirty, and they initially thought the smell might just be from the dirt. They cleared the call. But then they looked again, and what they found beneath the stairs shocked them to their core. Hidden behind a newly constructed wall, stuffed inside a plastic storage bin filled with concrete and then walled off with drywall and fake bricks, was my body.
Police called it a makeshift tomb. I had been buried beneath a large amount of soil and hay. An autopsy later proved I had been shot multiple times, likely on January 11th. At the scene, they also recovered a semi-automatic handgun, fresh drywall, acetone, lemon ammonia, and other construction and cleaning materials.
Devonte was arrested on the spot. During questioning, he confessed to killing me, the mother of his child, during what police believed was some kind of dispute. He was charged with first and second-degree murder and other firearm-related offenses. He was taken into custody and placed in the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections.
On January 21st, 2025, Devonte waived his right to a bond hearing. That same day, the Prince George’s County Police Department held a press conference. The former chief, Malik Aziz, addressed the media. He explained that on January 18th, the Metropolitan Police Department of DC had contacted them for assistance locating me, after I was reported missing on January 14th.
With help from Chief Daryl Morgan and the Capitol Heights Police Department, they issued a search warrant for Devonte’s home. “While inside the house, our homicide detectives and evidence team, along with the Prince George’s County Fire Department, located Miss Scheler’s remains inside a newly constructed wall,” Chief Aziz said. “The office of the chief medical examiner determined that the victim had been shot. Devonte Gray was taken into custody at the scene.
During questioning, Gray confessed to murdering Miss Scheler and was charged with first-degree murder and related charges. ”
He also spoke about the broader tragedy, noting that there had been twenty-one domestic-related homicides in the county the previous year. “Each act of violence shatters lives, leaves behind deep pains that last for generations to come,” he said. He urged the community to speak out against violence that steals our safety and security.
Chief Daryl Morgan of the Capitol Heights Police Department also spoke. He explained how they had come into contact with my case on January 14th, when the Metropolitan Police Department reached out for a welfare check. They went by the location where I was last known to be, but couldn’t find me. They gathered evidence and video footage, working together with the other departments until they had enough for a search warrant.
“This is a tragic situation,” Chief Morgan said. “It’s a horrible thing, particularly if it leads to this type of situation. My heart and soul goes out to your family. ” He admitted with a heavy heart that he wished they had been a day or two early, that sometimes they just get there a little late and things fall apart.
He said the community was like a close family, and these things hit very hard. Former State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy also took the podium. She acknowledged the family’s pain, saying that no words or justice would ever be enough, because justice would be to have me here. She promised that one of her most senior prosecutors, the chief of special victims, would be handling my case.
She reminded everyone that I wasn’t just a victim. I was a mother. A daughter. A cousin.
A niece. A sister. I had rights. I had a right to be here.
I was only twenty-nine years old. She also confirmed that Devonte would have a bond hearing later that day, and the state would request that he be held without bond. Then, something important happened. My family was given the opportunity to speak at that press conference, which doesn’t always happen in these cases.
My cousin, Derek Felder, approached the podium on behalf of our family. He expressed heartfelt gratitude to everyone who came together in the search for me. Although the outcome was not what anyone hoped, he said they took solace in knowing I had been found and they now had closure to lay me to rest in peace. He thanked the detectives and officers who worked tirelessly, as well as the many family members, friends, and strangers who shared posts and prayed for me.
Then he spoke about me as a mother. “Those three children have lost their mother,” he said. “One of those children’s fathers is responsible. ” He said there was a void in our family that could never be filled, that my three children would never feel my embrace or hear my voice again.
All I wanted was to come home to them. He also shared a powerful warning. He said my story was a painful reminder that this is not what love looks like. “Someone who truly loves you would never do what Devonte Gray did to her,” he said.
He urged anyone going through something similar to take it seriously, to look at my story as a call to wake up, to seek help, and to prioritize their safety above all. He asked the community to pay attention when they see missing flyers, because those are real people with real families who love them. “Your villages can save lives and bring much needed closure to other families,” he said. My viewing and funeral service were held on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025, at Enim Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland.
Family members asked everyone to wear pink in my memory. My final arrangements were placed in the care of a funeral home in Clinton, Maryland. According to reports, all three of my children are now in the care of my mother, Tana. There is no excuse for family violence.
I should be here today, taking care of my three young children, but I can’t now. If you ever find yourself in a position similar to mine, please know that there is help out there for you.
