Arraignment Delayed for Deputy Shooting Suspect

Arraignment for Ray Tate Jr. has been postponed until February 3.

The 40-year-old Tate was scheduled to appear in Wayne County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon. Tate was given the choice of appearing via Zoom or in person at the courthouse in Fairfield, and he chose an in-person appearance. The court schedule couldn't be cleared for the length of time the arraignment is expected to take.

Tate was arrested in late December and charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Riley. On Friday, a Wayne County Grand Jury returned indictments against Tate on 38 Class M felony counts ranging from aggravated assault to murder. Each of the charges will be read to Tate at the arraignment.

Tate was in court on December and Public Defender Heidi Hoffee was named to represent him. Tate is currently being housed in the Jefferson County Detention Center.