Sheryia Grant

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Kilgore Police Department Tx (TX)

Missing From:

Kilgore, Texas

Summary:

Sheryia Ronsha Grant was 20 years old and eight months pregnant when she went missing from Kilgore, Texas. She was last seen at approximately midnight on the night of August 19-20, 2016. Three people have been indicted on capital murder charges: Allen Lamont Sutton Jr., Laneshia Lashae Young, and Edward Brager, with allegations they struck her with a blunt object and set her on fire with accelerant.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Grant was last seen in Kilgore, Texas at approximately midnight on the night of August 19-20, 2016. She was reported missing after she did not report to work at Chicken Express on Aug. 20. Grant was eagerly anticipating the birth of her daughter, whom she had planned to name I'yanna Ree Grant, and had been purchasing baby supplies from her paychecks. She was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, a pink undershirt and gray yoga pants. According to Dec. 2 indictments in Smith County, around Aug. 20, 2016, Sutton and Young intentionally and knowingly caused Grant's death by striking her with a blunt object and setting her on fire with accelerant and, at the same time, causing the death of Grant's unborn child.

Additional Details:

Police believe Grant was killed soon after she vanished. In March 2017, Laneshia Lashae Young and Allen 'Lamont' Sutton Jr. were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in Grant's case; the evidence they allegedly tampered with was a human corpse. Grant's family stated Sutton is her ex-boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, and that he had repeatedly threatened her after she became pregnant. A car belonging to Young and Sutton was repossessed after Grant disappeared, and the trunk liner was discovered to be missing. There was blood in the trunk and DNA matched it to Grant. Sutton, the father of Grant's unborn child, in April 2019 was given the maximum 10 years in prison by a Rusk County jury after being convicted of tampering with physical evidence in the case. Young was sentenced in July 2021 to eight years in prison on a charge of tampering with physical evidence in connection with the case. Edward Brager, Jr., 23 of Troup, was charged with capital murder of multiple persons in June of 2022. In his indictment, it is said that Brager struck Grant with a deadly weapon and set her on fire. Her body has never been found. In late October, Grant's sister Sheaira Rondresia Grant, 23, was charged with insurance fraud in connection with a fire at the house the sisters had shared. Authorities reportedly interviewed dozens of people, drained ponds, searched in the woods and wells. The trial is scheduled for March 17, 2025 for Sutton, with trials for Young and Brager scheduled for later in 2025.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 24, 2026