Trial begins for man accused of killing Kayla Kelley – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Testimony began Tuesday in the murder trial of Ocastor Ferguson, the man accused of kidnapping and killing his girlfriend Kayla Kelley in 2023.

Kelley was 33 when she was reported missing by her family in January 2023 after not showing up for work at Raytheon for the third day in a row. The McKinney resident's body was found days later, buried in a shallow grave in Grand Prairie.

What we know about the case before the trial begins came from an arrest warrant that police issued last year for Ferguson, 33, who has been in jail since his arrest on bond of more than $2.5 million.

According to the affidavit, Ferguson was a married man who had been dating Kelley since they met online in the summer of 2022. Detectives said Ferguson used the name “Kevin Brown” during his relationship with Kelley. When she disappeared on January 11, 2023, her family and friends told police that she had recently learned Ferguson's true identity and that he was married, and that she had threatened to tell his wife. him for the connection.

According to the affidavit, police looked into Kelley's phone records and found text conversations with Ferguson that led up to her disappearance.

It's Jan. 12, 2023, Frisco police found Kelley's burned car on a deserted county road with evidence of arson. Detectives with the Collin County Sheriff's Office were also able to identify records indicating that Ferguson had purchased items to set the car on fire, a lighter and a gas can, on January 10. Ferguson's vehicle was later found near Kelley's duplex in Collin County, with gloves, duct tape and a blanket inside.

Investigators said they were also able to track his cell phone and map movements to the burned vehicle, Kelley's home and a wooded area near his Grand Prairie home. It was that wooded area where the officials found Kelley's body buried in a shallow grave.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office listed Kelley's cause of death as asphyxiation. Ferguson was arrested and charged with murder and was also charged with arson, a second-degree felony, and kidnapping, a third-degree felony.

A 2023 court document seeking a higher bail amount for Ferguson identified him as a Jamaican national with few ties to the local area. Police said Ferguson recently returned to North Texas after visiting the island nation.

At a pretrial hearing, attorneys went over the evidence that will be shown to the jury and brought in detectives from the Allen Police Department and the Collin County Sheriff's Office, who will provide expert testimony on digital forensics and cell tower records — – which played a major role in bringing charges against Ferguson.

Jurors were selected Monday, and Ferguson's trial was expected to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Collin County District Court in McKinney.

Collin County Sheriff's Office

“YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THIS OUTRAGEOUS MAN FINISHED FOR MURDER”

Opening statements began Tuesday morning on Collin County 199^th Judicial District Court with Judge Angela Tucker presiding.

Chief prosecutor Kailey Gillman opened the trial Tuesday by telling jurors, “What you're going to see in the next two days, you're going to see this defendant try to get away with murder.”

Gillman said jurors would see the movements Ferguson made before, during and after Kelley's disappearance, collecting “tools” and making multiple visits to a wooded area where her body was later discovered in a grave. shallow.

Gillman told jurors they will see “how long it takes to bury a body,” thanks to cell phone technology. The victim's cell phone and two cell phones owned by the suspect are at the center of the trial. Investigators have recovered cell phone data records and cross-referenced them with surveillance video to help determine the victim and the suspect's movements.

“The only reason they were able to find Kayla Kelley was because this defendant's movements led them to her,” Gillman said.

Ferguson, who appeared in a gray suit with his ankles bound, is being represented by Edwin 'Bubba' King, a court-appointed lawyer. King chose to postpone his opening statement until later in the trial and said he did not know if his client planned to testify.

During testimony Tuesday, new details about Ferguson and Kelley's relationship were shared with the jury along with details of the victim's personality and childhood.

Prosecutors said Ferguson and Kelley met on an online dating app in August 2022 and their relationship escalated at lightning speed with the couple “ring shopping” two weeks later.

Friends and family told police that in the months before her death, Kelley discovered that Ferguson had been using a false name and married several other girlfriends on the side. While “deeply hurt,” Kelley's family said she was determined to make their relationship work.

Kelley reportedly told friends and family that she had threatened Ferguson to go to his house and tell his wife about their affair, desperate to keep her.

Kelley's cousin, Irish Anderson, was the first to take the stand Tuesday morning. Anderson provided insight into Kelley's troubled childhood, determination to excel in school, and becoming a wife and mother. Kelley's parents struggled with addiction and were behind bars, prompting her to live with Anderson and her parents.

Anderson fondly described her 'best friend' as someone with a personality that didn't fit in the courtroom. Kelley, she said, loved fashion and travel, was generous, very loving, smart, determined to get a good education and a good job. She earned her bachelor's degree and went on to earn an MBA before moving to North Texas to work for Raytheon.

But most of all, “she desperately wanted to be a wife and a mother,” Anderson said on the stand. “She believed (Ferguson) was going to marry her.”

Kelley reportedly told her cousin that Ferguson was close to his Christian faith and had stated that he wanted to become a preacher.

Anderson, who did not hesitate to look directly at the defendant during her testimony, said Kelley revealed that she had studied polygamy in an apparent effort to separate Ferguson.

The last time they spoke, Anderson was adamant that she and Ferguson “were going to be together and I had to accept him with all his faults.”

Detectives from the Collin County Sheriff's Office and Allen Police Department also testified about cellphone records found in the case that led them to Kelley's body in Grand Prairie. Texas Rangers investigators were also part of the investigation.

Ferguson's wife is expected to take the stand during the trial, although it was not immediately clear when that would take place.

Testimony continues Wednesday morning at 9 a.m

The murder trial of a married man accused of killing his girlfriend, burning her car and burying her begins in Collin County. Kayla Kelley was reported missing after not showing up for work for several days. NBC 5's Maria Guerrero has more.