Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Willie Kelsey Pleads Guilty and Gets Life Plus 80 Years in 2007 GA Slaying of 7-Year-Old

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Willie Kelsey Pleads Guilty and Gets Life Plus 80 Years in 2007 GA Slaying of 7-Year-Old

    Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a 7-year-old boy in a home invasion,
    DeKalb District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming said Monday.

    And for the first time, Keyes Fleming linked the slaying of Timothy Johnson Jr. last Sept. 16 to a trial scheduled the next day in which his parents and sister were expected to testify.

    Willie Kelsey, 29, of Decatur, was charged with the murder in December.

    The allegation that Kelsey was trying to kill a witness is contained in indictments returned by a DeKalb grand jury, Keyes Fleming said.

    Johnson's 15-year-old sister, Alexus Sheppard, was critically wounded by gunfire in the same bedroom with Timothy at their grandfather's home in southern DeKalb.

    Alexus was to testify in a Sept. 17 trial of four men accused of staging a home invasion against her family in 2006. Kelsey was not a defendant in that trial. Keyes Fleming declined to say what evidence authorities have to link Kelsey to that case.

    The district attorney said she consulted Timothy's family about seeking the death penalty and "they agreed with the decision."

    State law requires the prosecution to prove one of a specified list of "aggravating circumstances" to justify a death penalty. Keyes Fleming said those factors in Kelsey's case will include committing a murder during a burglary, during an aggravated battery and in an "outrageously wanton" way.

    DeKalb police in January also charged Jarvis Marquez Gibson, 24, with murder in the case in January. Prosecutors have not yet decided how to proceed with his case, said Artealia Gilliard, spokeswoman for Keyes Fleming.

    Pre-trial proceedings in Kelsey's case will begin after it is assigned to a judge.

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Lithonia man ends secret trial with guilty plea

    Case sparked 2007 fatal home invasion, prompted concern for witness’ safety

    A Lithonia man pleaded guilty Monday to an armed robbery that officials say is related to the home invasion killing of 7-year-old Timothy Johnson, ending a trial that the prosecution and defense sought to keep from public view.

    Johnny Travitt, 32, was sentenced to life in prison for a 2006 home invasion against the Johnson family. In September 2007, the night before he and other defendants were scheduled to go on trial in that case, Timothy was shot to death and his sister critically wounded in a second home invasion.

    Although Travitt and his co-defendants were not charged in the second attack, prosecutors have said Willie Kelsey of Decatur carried it out to eliminate witnesses in the trial of Travitt and the others. Kelsey faces a possible death penalty.

    Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott said the safety of witnesses was on his mind when he approved a joint request from the prosecution and defense to put Travitt’s trial on an “unpublished calendar.”

    Scott commented in an interview after a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution requested entry to his locked courtroom Monday morning. At that time, attorneys were arguing a final pre-trial motion before beginning to interview jurors.

    A short time later, Travitt pleaded guilty, ending the trial.

    Last week, the newspaper asked the judge’s office, District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming’s office and Travitt’s defense attorney, Stanley Sunderland, if a trial had been scheduled, based on a document in the public court file showing that a witness had been ordered to appear Tuesday.

    Sunderland said last week he did not know why the order to the witness was issued and denied knowledge of the upcoming trial. The district attorney’s office at first would say only that accused ringleader Michael Blaine would be tried this summer, but the office finally addressed Travitt’s case after the judge’s office referred questions back to the DA.

    Keyes Fleming’s spokeswoman, Jada Hudspeth, issued a statement Friday saying, “Please understand we are concerned about the safety of everyone involved in this case; we are doing our best to prevent and protect in a very sensitive matter. We can not provide additional comments at this time.”

    The judge said Monday, “I have a strong commitment to doing things in the light of the day.” But he said he had been told that Keyes Fleming’s office lacked the money “in this budget crisis” to provide sufficient protection to witnesses in the case.

    He said the possible conflict between public notice and secrecy to protect witnesses “is a tension that the Founding Fathers intended.”

    http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2009/02/23/secret_trial_home_invasion.html

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Man Pleads Not Guilty in 2007 Shooting

    DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A DeKalb County couple left a courtroom in tears Wednesday.

    Timothy and Lamonica Johnson were hoping the man charged with fatally shooting their 7-year old son and wounding their 14-year old daughter back in 2007 would enter a guilty plea Wednesday and accept a deal from the state.

    But that's not what happened during Willie Kelsey's arraignment. The parents of the victims say it's been a long and painful pursuit of justice.

    Police say William Kelsey shot Timothy Johnson, Jr. and his then 14-year old sister, Alexus, while they were sleeping in their home in September 2007. Kelsey was arrested in December 2007. In 2008, The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office announced they would seek the death penalty in the case.

    Wednesday, before a judge, Willie Kelsey entered a not guilty plea. The judge also announced motion hearings would not happen until sometime next year.

    Timothy Johnson says nothing positive came out of Wednesday's appearance and that it could be a couple of years before the case goes to trial. He noted that it's been nearly four years since the shootings.

    The judge noted that it was the third set of defense attorneys for Kelsey. While the judge sympathized with the family, the judge felt the defense attorneys needed time to prepare.

    http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news...20110126-am-sd

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Trial for 2007 killing still delayed

    LaMonica Johnson has been grieving the slaying of her 7-year-old son for four years. And with no trial date scheduled yet, there is no closure in sight.

    “It’s taking too long,” Johnson said last Wednesday after an arraignment hearing in the case against Willie Edward Kelsey, 32, of Decatur, who was arrested in December 2007 for the killing of Timothy Johnson Jr. Johnson’s sister, Alexus Shepherd, who was 15 at the time, was critically wounded during the shooting.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the crime.

    “Four years is a long time to grieve,” Johnson said. “I’m ready to get it over with. I’m ready to put it behind me and deal with it, but each time I have to face him, it hurts.”

    Kelsey is accused of shooting the children execution-style while they slept at their grandfather’s home on Toney Drive in Decatur on Sept. 16, 2007. That was the day before Shepherd was supposed to testify in a trial about the 2006 invasion of her family’s Stone Mountain home.

    According to the indictment against Kelsey, he was trying to prevent the parents and sister of the slain boy from testifying in the criminal trial case of Johnny Travitt, who was sentenced to life in prison in February 2009 after pleading guilty for his part in the first home invasion against the Johnson family.

    In addition to murder, Kelsey was charged with aggravated assault, burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana and violation of the state’s controlled substance act.

    A second suspect, Jarvis Marquez Gibson, 27, of Atlanta, was arrested Dec. 31, 2007, after voluntarily surrendering himself for questioning in the case. Gibson was charged with murder, aggravated assault and burglary.

    During a court appearance in December 2007, then Police Chief Terrell Bolton called Kelsey “a monster among us.”

    Johnson said she had expected him to make guilty a plea last week.

    “We have to deal with them filing motions,” Johnson said. “It’s not even the beginning of the trial. We’re suffering for what he did. I lost my child. He [Kelsey] gets to stand up in court and speak.”

    Kelsey is being represented by capital public defenders–public defense attorneys specially trained to handle death penalty cases. During the past four years, two sets of defense attorneys have quit Kelsey’s case after leaving the public defense system.

    Now, defense attorneys Priya Lahki and Watani Tyehimba of Georgia Capital Defenders must wade through 4,000 pages of information to prepare for Kelsey’s trial. Lahki told Superior Court Judge Linda Hunter last week that she expects to be ready to file motions in the case by Nov. 15.

    “It seems like it’s never going to come,” Timothy Johnson Sr., the father of the slain boy, said of the trial. “It seems like it’s going to take another couple of years to start the case.”

    http://championnewspaper.com/news/ar...layed-802.html

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    2,740
    Man gets life plus 80 years for execution-style shooting of 7-year-old boy

    A DeKalb County man broke down in tears Thursday after confessing to the execution-style murder of a 7-year-old boy and the shooting of his sister in an attempt to quiet witnesses to a home invasion.

    Mr. Willie Kelsey, 35, was sentenced to life plus 80 years for killing young Timothy Johnson Jr., and shooting his 15-year-old sister Alexus Sheppard at least five times on Sept. 16, 2007, according to the district attorney’s office.

    Mr. Kelsey accepted a negotiated plea that allowed him to avoid the death sentence.

    Prosecutors said the shootings were executed to stop the witnesses from testifying to a violent break-in and robbery attempt that happened nearly a year earlier.

    "The father, mother and daughter were to serve as witnesses to the burglary that took place in 2006," the district attorney's spokesman Mr. Erik Burton said."A day before they were to testify is when the hit was carried out."

    Mr. Kelsey broke into the home where the family was staying with relatives and opened fire in one of the bedrooms where the siblings were sleeping, officials said.

    Timothy Jr. was hit 11 times and Alexus survived gunshot wounds in the in the neck and legs, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    Mrs. LaMonica and Mr. Timothy Johnson Sr., were not injured in the shooting carried out by Mr. Kelsey who was never implicated in the the brutal June 2006 break-in, Mr. Burton said. Still, he was associated with the four suspects who were convicted, prosecutors said.

    On Thursday, Mrs. LaMonica Johnson’s words choked behind sobs as she looked at the man who killed her son, prosecutors said.

    “You took something from us that we can never get back,” she said before embracing her equally emotional husband, the paper reported.

    Mr. Kelsey offered an apology to the parents, Mr. Burton said.

    “I’m sorry,” he said, according to the AJC. “If I could just bring him back … that’s all I can offer. I’m sorry.”

    Mr. Kelsey, who has been in jail since December 2007, will be turned over to custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections.

    http://www.examiner.com/article/man-...7-year-old-boy

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •