Police arrested a Centralia man Monday night after he allegedly threatened to slit the throat of his girlfriend’s mother.
Donte J. Gray, 20, is charged with one count of felony harassment, domestic violence. The Class C felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Gray made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday.
During the hearing, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson requested a bail amount of $50,000 cash or bond, noting Gray’s prior adult convictions for escape from community custody in 2026 and harassment in 2025.
Jackson said he believed there was a “substantial likelihood that the defendant may commit further acts.”
“We have concerns for public safety, as well as the victim,” Jackson added.
The prosecutor requested a protection order on behalf of the alleged victim, as well as an order for Gray to surrender any firearms within his possession.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller said she had no objection to the protection order, as it was a “standard practice” and also a standard condition of release.
Tiller said bail would be difficult for Gray, who was participating in moral reconation therapy (MRT) and taking domestic violence classes. She added Gray was being “closely monitored” by the Department of Corrections.
Tiller asked for no more than $10,000 in bail and said Gray’s family was watching the preliminary appearance via WebEx.
Judge J. Andrew Toynbee settled at $30,000 cash or bond and granted the state’s request for the protection order and weapons surrender.
“I find that there is a threat that he might seek to intimidate witnesses or otherwise interfere with the administration of justice,” Toynbee said. “Also, that he may commit a violent offense.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, Centralia police responded to a home on South Pearl Street Monday after receiving a report from a woman claiming “her daughter’s boyfriend, Donte Gray, had threatened to slit her throat.”
The woman told an officer at the scene that she, her daughter and Gray lived together, and said Gray and her daughter were “always yelling and fighting with each other,” according to the affidavit.
That night, Gray and the woman’s daughter had allegedly gotten into a “heated argument” and had gone into a bathroom.
The woman said she thought she’d heard something break. She opened the door.
Gray allegedly responded by threatening to slit the woman’s throat if she interrupted him and her daughter “one more time.”
After officers told Gray he was under arrest, the woman’s daughter, a 17-year-old juvenile, allegedly began to punch and kick one of the officers, resulting in her arrest.
Police booked Gray into the Lewis County Jail shortly after midnight on Tuesday, according to jail records.
He is scheduled for arraignment on Thursday.
