Ana Delvalle and Basil Gray: Two Neighbors Killed on the Same Floor in Brooklyn: Two Neighbors, One Hallway
- Strange Case Files
- Mar 26
- 5 min read
On the fifth floor of 140 Moore Street in Brooklyn’s Bushwick Houses, Ana Delvalle and Basil Gray lived in neighboring apartments just steps apart.
What happened there in May 2018 still feels almost impossible to believe.
Ana Delvalle, a 62-year-old grandmother, was found dead inside her apartment on May 11. Two days later, Basil Gray, the 54-year-old man living next door, was found dead in his apartment too. Both had been shot. Investigators have long believed the killings may be connected. Nearly eight years later, no one has been publicly charged.
This case has remained especially haunting because these were not two strangers killed in different places under unrelated circumstances. These were neighbors on the same floor, in the same hallway, killed within what investigators believe was a very narrow window of time.
A Morning That Never Returned to Normal
Ana Delvalle was found by her daughter inside apartment 5C on May 11, 2018. Reports said her hands were bound, and she had been shot inside her home.
There were also signs that whatever happened interrupted an ordinary part of her day. Investigators said a mop and cleaning supplies were still out, leading to the theory that she may have been cleaning shortly before she was killed. That detail has never been publicly proven as the final sequence of events, but it has remained one of the most striking parts of the case.
It suggests a normal morning that suddenly turned violent.
Who Ana Delvalle Was
Delvalle was described as a grandmother and a familiar presence in the building. Neighbors remembered her as kind and well known, someone people recognized and spoke about with affection.
Her death did not just leave behind a crime scene. It left behind a loss that was felt by family, neighbors, and the broader community around her.
The Discovery Next Door
At first, it may have seemed like one terrible killing inside one apartment. Then the case widened.
On May 13, Basil Gray was found dead in apartment 5B, right next door. His family had become worried after not hearing from him and went to check on him. Inside, they found him shot to death.
Gray had reportedly been seen on surveillance earlier that morning leaving and later returning with a cup of coffee. That small detail only makes the case feel more unsettling. Like Delvalle, he appears to have been carrying on with a normal day before everything stopped.
What Was Known About Basil Gray
Public reporting on Gray’s personal background has always been thinner than the reporting on Delvalle. What is publicly known is that he lived alone, his family quickly noticed something was wrong, and detectives later looked into parts of his background, including financial matters.
No clear explanation ever emerged from that. No publicly confirmed motive has ever been announced.
No Signs of Forced Entry
One of the most important details in the case is that investigators reportedly found no signs of forced entry in either apartment.
That raised immediate questions. Did the killer knock and get let inside? Did one or both victims know the person? Was someone already in the building who did not seem out of place?
The lack of forced entry has always suggested that whatever happened may have begun quietly, at least at first.
Was Anything Taken?
There were reports that a small amount of money was missing from Delvalle’s apartment. But even that did not fully explain the crime.
Police reportedly did not see clear signs that Gray’s apartment had been robbed, which made the idea of a simple robbery harder to accept. If theft played a role at all, it did not seem to tell the whole story.
A Very Narrow Timeline
As detectives worked the case, they came to believe both victims were likely killed on the same morning, May 11, 2018, around 9:30 a.m.
If that timeline is correct, then the killings happened only minutes apart. Two neighboring apartments. One hallway. One short stretch of time.
That is what has always made the case feel so chilling. Whoever was responsible appears to have moved through a very specific place at a very specific time, leaving two people dead behind neighboring doors.
The Question of the Weapon
The public record on the weapon has not always been perfectly consistent.
Some reports said the same gun was used in both killings. Later reporting suggested investigators were considering the possibility that more than one gun may have been involved.
But the larger point never changed. Detectives believed the murders were connected, even if some of the forensic details reported publicly have varied over time.
Possible Motive, But No Clear Answer
Investigators explored whether the case could be tied to drug activity in the building or nearby. That theory has been mentioned in public reporting for years, but it is important to be careful with it.
There has been no public indication that Ana Delvalle or Basil Gray were themselves involved in drugs. The idea was that one or both may have seen something, known something, or crossed paths with the wrong person at the wrong time.
Even after years of investigation, no motive has been publicly confirmed.
The Hallway Video
One of the strongest public leads came from video taken on the fifth floor around the time of the killings.
The footage reportedly showed three bundled-up individuals in the hallway area. Early on, police stopped short of calling them suspects and instead said they might have information. Later reporting described them as persons of interest.
Even so, no public arrest followed, and no one was publicly identified in connection with that footage.
That remains one of the most frustrating parts of the case. There was a defined location, a narrow timeline, hallway video, and two victims living next door to each other. Yet the investigation never reached the point the families were waiting for.
The Families Left Behind
For Delvalle’s relatives, the pain began with her daughter walking in and finding her mother dead. Her family later spoke publicly about the trauma of that moment and the agony of living without answers.
A vigil was held outside the building, not just for Ana Delvalle, but for both victims and the questions that still hung over the fifth floor.
Gray’s family has spoken less publicly, but the known facts are no less devastating. They were the ones who went looking for him. They were the ones who found him.
For both families, this was never just a mystery. It was sudden violence, personal loss, and years without resolution.
The FBI Reward
In 2022, the FBI announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.
That public reward was a reminder that investigators still believed someone out there knew what happened. The case remains open.
Case Facts
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Year: 2018
Victims: Ana Delvalle and Basil Gray
Ages: Ana Delvalle, 62; Basil Gray, 54
Cause of death: Both were shot
Status: Unsolved
Reward: FBI reward offered for information leading to an arrest
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