Denise Gray Charged.jpg

Denise Gray is charged with murder in the Nov. 11, 2016 shooting death of her boyfriend, Anthony Ray Sr.

(Birmingham Police/Facebook)

Formal charges were filed Sunday against a Birmingham woman accused of fatally shooting her boyfriend Friday night.

Denise Larue Gray, 40, is charged with murder. She is charged in the death of 44-year-old Anthony Ray Sr.

Anthony Ray Sr.

According to Birmingham police, the couple had been drinking earlier in the day. Later Friday, a verbal dispute erupted "over some personal matters," said Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Shelton.

West Precinct officers were dispatched at 5:35 p.m. Friday to a home in the 4300 block of Fifth Court in Wylam. When they arrived on the scene, they found Ray lying on the ground outside of the home suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Ray was taken by ambulance to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5 a.m. Saturday. Gray was taken into custody Friday night.

She was transferred to the Jefferson County jail late Sunday afternoon after the murder warrant was obtained against her. Court records don't reflect any previous criminal arrests or convictions for Gray.

"The investigation will have to uncover why the suspect decided to involve a firearm in this situation." police said in a statement Saturday. "One thing is certain, a family has lost a loved one and that is never easy to deal with. We will work hard to get them answers."

Ray is Birmingham's 87th homicide victim this year. Of those, at least six have been ruled justifiable. Two others were officer-involved shootings involving outside law enforcement agencies: the Irondale Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.