Wynonna Judd. Paul Morigi/WireImage for The Recording Academy
Wynonna Judd’s daughter, Grace Pauline Kelley, has had her fair share of ups and downs over the years.
Judd welcomed Grace with ex-husband Arch Kelley III in June 1996. The country singer revealed to the Tampa Bay Times in 1997 that she “almost died” while giving birth to Grace. As Judd recovered, she and Grace formed a special connection that would carry on for years.
However, Grace began her run-ins with the law in December 2015. She was arrested and charged with promotion of meth manufacture, according to Radar Online. Grace ultimately pled guilty to a lesser charge of possession of meth. While Grace was out on probation, she was arrested again in November 2016 for being a “fugitive from justice” and her probation was revoked.
Since that initial arrest, Grace has been arrested and released on probation multiple times. While Grace continued her cycle of legal troubles, her mom opened up about her daughter’s struggles.
Cherishing the memories. After Naomi Judd’s April 2022 death, the country singer’s loving family will hold their special moments with her in their hearts. Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd revealed their mother’s death in a statement on April 30. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” they said in a joint message, shared via Twitter. “We […]
“I will tell you this. My daughter is the strongest Judd woman in our ‘herstory,’” Judd said during a February 2020 appearance on The Pursuit! with John Rich. “She’s healthier than I was at 23. How she got there — I would not go that way, but I was also sequestered. I was on a bus with my mother. Kind of hard to get in trouble. So that could have been me, John, if I didn’t have music.”
Keep scrolling to see Grace’s ups and downs over the years:
December 2015
According to Radar Online, Grace was pulled over while she was parked at a Walgreens since her license plate was “improperly secured” with only “one screw.” Per the outlet, an eyewitness found a plastic bag discarded from the passenger side of Grace’s vehicle and handed it over to detectives. The bag contained a box of pseudoephedrine and a receipt showing a purchase of Coleman fuel, which are ingredients to make meth.
After the authorities reviewed the pharmacy’s security footage, they identified Grace as the purchaser. She was arrested and charged with promotion of meth manufacture, which is a felony.
May 2016
Five months after her arrest, Grace pled guilty to the lesser charge of possession of meth, which is a misdemeanor.
November 2016
Grace was arrested in Alabama for being a “fugitive from justice” and her probation was revoked.
May 2017
One year after pleading guilty to possession of meth, Grace ultimately pled guilty to meth manufacture, delivery, sale and possession with intent. She was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail. She was also ordered by a Tennessee judge to pay $3,092.50 in fines.
However, Grace was released from jail one month later so she could finish her sentence while she received treatment for substance abuse from a court-ordered program.
June 2018
Us Weekly confirmed that Grace was sentenced to eight years in prison for violating her probation after she left the rehab facility before finishing the program.
November 2019
One year into her eight-year sentence, Grace was released from prison and granted parole.
April 2020
Grace was arrested again for a probation violation linked to her 2016 meth case.
April 2021
After getting granted parole, Grace was ordered to report to the Murfreesboro Probation and Parole Office. She had a list of post-release conditions, including substance abuse treatment, substance abuse aftercare referral and random drug screens, per The Sun.
Four months later, Grace was arrested for a parole violation and was sentenced to prison again. Her expected release date was scheduled for March 16, 2024.
April 2022
Grace welcomed daughter Kaliyah. The Sun reported Grace was pregnant while in jail, and a judge granted her a temporary leave of absence due to her pregnancy.
Wynonna announced she had become a grandmother the same month she lost her mom Naomi Judd.
“I DO know, that in order to be a healthier grandparent to my firstborn grandchild Kaliyah, {born 4/13, 2 weeks & 2 days before Mom left}, to break the cycle of addiction & family dysfunction, that I must continue to show up for myself {first} and do the personal healing work,” the singer wrote via Instagram. “I know that it is a simple steps program, and those steps are not easy to take at times. Therefore, I’ve made a commitment to keep doing the ‘next right thing,’ and schedule weekly appointments so that I continue with the ongoing work, even when I have good days.”
May 2023
The Sun reported that Grace was arrested for violating an order of protection and restraining order and violation of parole. She was released in October 2023.
April 2024
According to documents obtained by Us, Grace was arrested in Alabama after she allegedly flashed drivers off the highway. She was charged with soliciting prostitution, indecent exposure and obstructing governmental operations.
According to The Daily News, Kelley’s charge of soliciting prostitution was dropped and the indecent exposure charge was reduced to public lewdness. WSFA reported that Grace pleaded guilty to public lewdness and obstructing government operations. Kelley paid $200 and her 90-day jail sentence was suspended for the former charge, while she was placed in jail for 60 days for the latter charge and was released in May 2024.
August 2024
Grace was arrested in Georgia and booked in Carroll County Jail on three counts. She was released on $2,750 bond the next day, according to an arrest record obtained by People.
Grace was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving with a suspended/revoked license and not using motorcycle equipment properly, per the record.
October 2024
Grace was arrested in Albemarle County, Virginia, after allegedly stealing a Charlottesville church’s van, The Daily Progress reported. Ground Zero Church of the Nazarene confirmed the stolen vehicle on a GoFundMe page.
Grace faced seven charges, including three counts of felony grand larceny. Grace was also charged with driving without a license, destruction of property with intent, failure to use headlights and setting in motion a vehicle with intent to commit a crime, People confirmed via the Albemarle County Police Department.
In December 2024, Grace accepted a plea deal that lessened her charges to possession of drug paraphernalia, drugged driving and petty larceny, according to The Daily Progress. She spent six weeks in jail for the crimes.
July 2025
In an interview with The Daily Progress, Grace claimed that her ex-stepfather, D.R. Roach, who was married to Wynonna from 2003 to 2007, molested her when she was 10 years old. She also alleged that Wynonna knew about the abuse and initially chose not to expose Roach.
“When they found out in counseling what he had done to me, they’re like, ‘Wait a minute. We’re going to report this to law enforcement,’” she claimed. “When he was arrested and it came out in the news, that’s when she divorced him.”
Grace alleged that once Roach was arrested and charged with sexual battery against a minor in March 2007, Wynonna tried to bring the family back together via counseling.
“So is my mom rich? Yeah, she’s so rich that she was able to sweep me under the rug and abuse me and then cover it all up,” Grace continued. “I don’t want to talk bad about my mom, but we’ll just say she’s a good performer. She was never a mother.”
Us Weekly reached out to Wynonna’s rep for comment and to Roach’s last known contact for comment.
Elsewhere in her interview, Grace said that she has been sober since her December 2024 jail stint. Part of her plea deal had required her to stay away from the church where she stole the van, but the church’s pastor, Kent Hart, and his wife instead decided to invite Grace into the community. She was baptized and is now an active member of the church.
“If it wasn’t for Pastor Kent and Megan Hart, I would still be out there using,” she said. “I’d still be out there doing the same thing I was.”
