RICHMOND — The 2006 murders of a well-known Richmond couple and their young daughters as they were preparing to host a New Year’s party sent shock waves through Virginia’s capital city.

More than 11 years later, some hope the execution of a man convicted in their deaths will close a painful chapter of this community’s history.

‘‘I do not think we should be saddled with the cost of keeping that heinous murderer alive,’’ said Steve Tarrant, who lived near the slain family and still gets emotional when he talks about watching their bodies being carried out of their home.

‘‘I think his execution will help effect a closure,’’ the 76-year-old said.

Ricky Gray is scheduled to be put to death Jan. 18 for the murders of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and her 4-year-old sister, Ruby. He has also been convicted of capital murder for killing their parents.

Gray and his nephew Ray Dandridge were looking for a home to rob on New Year’s Day 2006 when they spotted the Harveys’ open door and walked in. The girls and their parents, Bryan and Kathryn Harvey, who were cooking a chili dinner for the gathering they were hosting, were found in the basement of their burning home, bound, beaten, and stabbed, with their throats cut.

Gray, now 39, also confessed to participating in the killing of Ashley Baskerville, 21, her mother Mary Baskerville-Tucker, and stepfather Percyell Tucker in their Richmond home less than a week later, but wasn’t tried in that case.

Gray and Dandridge said Ashley Baskerville had served as a lookout for them during the Harvey slayings.

The families’ killings put the city on edge for weeks. After more than a decade, many still struggle to discuss the crimes.

‘‘I am still incapable of describing what happened in that basement without getting choked up,’’ said Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring, who prosecuted Gray. ‘‘I don’t know if you ever get closure from something like that. I think if you’re lucky, over time you forget, but I don’t know if you ever reach closure.’’

After the slayings, Gray told police: ‘‘I just want to die.’’

Now he’s asking Governor Terry McAuliffe to spare his life, saying that the childhood sexual abuse he suffered — and subsequent drug use — provides an understanding of his behavior that wasn’t offered to jurors.

Gray’s attorneys say he was repeatedly raped by his older brother and beaten by his father as a child and used powerful drugs to numb the effects of the abuse.

Gray claims he doesn’t really remember the Harvey slayings because he was high on PCP. Gray’s attorneys are also challenging the state’s plans to use lethal injection drugs from a secret compounding pharmacy, saying they will result in a cruel and painful death.

Associated Press