Testimony began Tuesday in the murder trial for Ocastor Ferguson, the man accused of kidnapping and killing his girlfriend Kayla Kelley in 2023.
Kelley was 33-years-old when she was reported missing by her family in January 2023 after she didn't show up for work at Raytheon for a third straight day. The McKinney resident's body was found several days later, buried in a shallow grave in Grand Prairie.
What we know about the case before the trial began came from an arrest affidavit that police released last year for Ferguson, 33, who has been in jail since his arrest with bonds totaling 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 Jan. 11, 2023, her family and friends told police she had recently learned Ferguson's real identity and that he was married and that she'd threatened to tell his wife about the affair.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
According to the affidavit, police looked through Kelley's phone records and found text conversations with Ferguson leading up to her disappearance.
On Jan. 12, 2023, Frisco police found Kelley's burned-out car on a deserted county road with evidence of arson. Detectives with the Collin County Sheriff's Office were also able to pinpoint records that showed Ferguson had purchased items to set the car on fire, a lighter and gas can, on Jan. 10. Ferguson's vehicle was then found near Kelley's duplex in Collin County, with gloves, duct tape and a blanket inside.
Investigators said they were also able to trace his mobile phone and mapped out movements to the burned-out vehicle, Kelley's home, and a wooded area near his house in Grand Prairie. It was that wooded area where officials found Kelley's body buried in a shallow grave.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office listed Kelley's cause of death as asphyxia. Ferguson was arrested and accused of murder and was also charged with arson, a second-degree felony, and kidnapping, a third-degree felony.
A court document from 2023 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 country.
In a pre-trial hearing, attorneys went over evidence that will be shown to jurors and brought in detectives from the Allen Police Department and Collin County Sheriff's Office who will provide expert testimony on digital forensics and cellphone tower data -- which played a large role in bringing charges against Ferguson.
Jurors were selected Monday and Ferguson’s trial was expected to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney.
'YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THIS DEFENDANT TRY TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER'
Opening statements began Tuesday morning in Collin County’s 199th Judicial District Court with Judge Angela Tucker presiding.
Lead prosecutor Kailey Gillman opened the trial Tuesday telling jurors: “What you’re going to see in the next couple 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, gathering “tools,” and making multiple visits to a wooded area where her body was later discovered in a shallow grave.
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 central in 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 ever able to find Kayla Kelley was because this defendant's movements led them right to her,” said Gillman.
Ferguson, who appeared in a grey suit, shackled at his ankles, is being represented by Edwin ‘Bubba’ King, a court appointed attorney. King opted to defer his opening statement for later in the trial and said he didn't 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 her childhood.
Prosecutors said Ferguson and Kelley met on an online dating app in August 2022 and that their relationship escalated at lightning speed with the couple ‘ring shopping’ two weeks later.
Friends and family told police that months before her death Kelley discovered Ferguson had been using a fake name and was married with 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 she had threatened Ferguson with driving to his house and telling his wife of their affair, desperate to keep him.
Kelley’s cousin, Irish Anderson, was first to take the stand Tuesday morning. Anderson provided insight into Kelley’s troubled childhood, determination to excel in school and become a wife and mother. Kelley’s parents struggled with addiction and were behind bars, leading her to live with Anderson and her parents.
Anderson lovingly described her ‘best friend’ as someone with a personality that wouldn’t fit in the courtroom. Kelley, she said, was loved fashion and travel, was generous, very loving, smart, determined to get a good education and a good job. She earned her bachelor’s and went on to earn an MBA before moving to North Texas to work for Raytheon.
But above all, “she wanted desperately to be a wife and a mother,” said Anderson 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 he wanted to become a preacher.
Anderson, who did not shy away from looking directly at the defendant during her testimony, said Kelley revealed she had been researching polygamy seemingly willing to share Ferguson.
The last time they spoke, Anderson was steadfast she and Ferguson “were going to be together and I should accept him with all of his faults.”
Detectives from the Collin County Sheriff’s Office and the Allen Police Department also testified about cell phone data recovered in the case which led them to Kelley’s body in Grand Prairie. Investigators with the Texas Rangers were also part of the investigation.
Ferguson’s wife is expected to take the stand during the trial, though it's not immediately clear when that will take place.
Testimony continues Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
