A Maryland mom of three who was reported missing on Jan. 14 was found dead inside a makeshift tomb constructed under a stairway in her boyfriend’s house. The woman’s boyfriend has confessed to the crime and has now been charged with killing her.
According to Maryland police, Alexis Schuler’s mother reported her missing after Schuler’s boyfriend, Devontae Gray, told her Schuler vanished. Neighborhood security cameras showed Schuler, 29, entering Gray’s Capitol Heights, MD home on Jan. 10, near DC, but she never left. Gray, meanwhile, entered and left the house several times between the last time Schuler was seen and when the police discovered her body.
Construction materials and a “weird” smell in Gray’s house
Shortly after Schuler’s mom called the authorities, police searched Gray’s house and found construction materials like sheetrock and cement but said nothing seemed suspicious. The next day, however, police obtained a search warrant and returned to Gray’s home. Searching more thoroughly this time, officers found the tomb under the stairs, hidden behind fresh drywall and fake brick.
According to Maryland news outlet WBALTV, Gray’s charging documents said “a large plastic bin” was discovered behind the drywall and brick, “wrapped in plastic wrapping, behind a large amount of concrete,” that was “poured by the defendant.” A human foot was sticking out from the bin, the authorities added, and Schuler’s body was located inside the bin under “large amounts of soil and hay.” Police also recovered a semi-automatic handgun from Gray’s house.
Gray, the father of one of Schuler’s children, was previously seen with cleaning and construction supplies, such as black garbage bags, cinder blocks, and various bottled chemicals. The first time officers searched Gray’s house, they noted a “weird” smell, but they attributed the odor to its dirty condition.
Schuler’s mother warned her about her boyfriend

Schuler’s mother reportedly witnessed Schuler get into a car with Gray the last day she was seen, but Gray later said she left his home in an Uber. “I said, ‘the last time I saw her, she got into your truck and left with you,” Schuler’s mom, Tiwana Schuler, told Fox 5 DC after Gray’s arrest. According to Tiwana, Gray told her, ‘Yeah, but she called an Uber from my house.’ He tried to say that, always tried to put everyone in different circles. She went with this person, that person, this person.”
At first, Gray denied he was involved in Schuler’s death, but later confessed he shot her up to three times during an argument and then built the tomb to hide her body. It’s unclear if Gray has legal representation, when he is expected to appear in court, or what he might plead.
Recalling the last conversation she had with her daughter, Tiwana said, “She left out her back door. We always say, ‘I love you. Bye’. I told her, I said ‘Alexis, I don’t trust him’, because he lost custody of the oldest son and had to pay all of this backup child support money. I said, ‘Most men don’t like that.’ I told her to be careful.”
Published: Jan 24, 2025 05:32 am