JEFFERSON CITY — The woman charged in the 2018 killing of a 4-year-old boy she was caring for pleaded guilty to a reduced murder charge on Friday.
Quatavia Givens, 33, will serve a life sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections plus 15 years for second-degree murder, child abuse and abandonment of a corpse, Cole County prosecuting attorney Locke Thompson announced Friday.
Givens was 4-year-old Darnell Gray's caretaker when he was reported missing in Jefferson City on Oct. 25, 2018, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting. She was part of a search for Darnell.
"To Darnell's family and friends, and to every member of our community who helped search for him, prayed for him, and worked to keep his memory alive, thank you," Thompson said at a news conference after Givens pleaded guilty. "Your help, your patience and your commitment to seeing justice done have never gone unnoticed."
Darnell Gray
On the life sentence, Givens will have the possibility of parole after 30 years in prison, Thompson said, but she could be kept in prison beyond that point. Thompson said Givens must serve the prison time for the life sentence before the 15-year sentence begins.
"This case represents one of the most painful tragedies our community has faced and the loss of an innocent child whose life was taken far too soon," Thompson said. "But in the days, months and years since Darnell's death, Jefferson City has also shown what it means to care for one another, to stand with a grieving family and to speak for a child who can no longer speak for himself."
Givens' guilty plea comes over seven years after Darnell's death, and her case saw delays due to the length of time it took to conduct the autopsy and competency hearings.
"As the judge said earlier, nothing we did in court today, unfortunately, can undo the harm that was done nor fill the absence left by Darnell's death," Thompson said. "But today's plea is an important step toward accountability for the defendant, closure for our community and justice for Darnell."
Watch the full news conference
If Givens had gone to trial and been found guilty of first-degree murder, she could have been sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"I was ready to try that case anytime, anywhere, but at the end of the day, even with the strongest case, there's never any certainty going into a jury trial," Thompson said. "You never know at the end of the day what's going to happen once 12 people have the case to decide, and it was better to take the certainty of the plea."
Case timeline
Darnell's body was found concealed in a wooded area on Oct. 30, 2018, police said.
“Foul play was not suspected until we found Darnell’s body,” then-Jefferson City Police Lt. David Williams said after Darnell's body was recovered.
An autopsy revealed that Darnell was struck and smothered, according to court documents.
Quatavia Givens
Givens was arrested on Oct. 31, 2018, and charged with child abuse resulting in death, according to previous reporting. A probable cause statement filed in the case said Givens admitted to injuring Darnell, alleging she said, "I may have hit him wrong."
A grand jury indicted Givens on the charge of child neglect or abuse resulting in death in December 2018, and in October 2019, prosecutors charged her with second-degree murder, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
A new indictment in August 2021 from a Cole County grand jury leveled charges of first-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and abandonment of a corpse, according to previous reporting.
Givens' first trial was set to begin on March 13, 2023, but proceedings were delayed after she was declared incompetent to stand trial and awaited treatment from the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
She was later ruled competent to stand trial in January 2025 and again in August 2025.
In October 2025, a judge scheduled a jury trial to begin on July 27 of this year. In April she was granted a motion to move the trial to Pulaski County.