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An appeal lodged by James Kelly in a Neshoba County murder case has been unequivocally denied by the Mississippi Court of Appeals. James Kelly, who was charged and subsequently found guilty in 2021, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
James Kelly, who was charged and subsequently found guilty in 2021 of the Neshoba County murder case, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Photo: WTOK)
Neshoba County Murder Case Suspect James Kelly’s Appeal Rejected
The case in question revolves around the kidnapping and Neshoba County murder case of Demarquis Houston in 2019.
According to a published article, Kelly’s appeal centered on the assertion that the Circuit Court had erred in denying his motion for a new trial for the Neshoba County murder case, which was primarily based on allegations of juror misconduct.
Kelly claimed that one of the jurors had a familial connection to Houston through marriage.
This, according to Kelly, constituted a grave bias that tainted the fairness of his trial in the Neshoba County murder case. However, the Court of Appeals meticulously scrutinized this claim and came to a resounding conclusion: there was no admissible evidence to substantiate Kelly’s allegations, and no error had been committed by the trial court.
This decision by the Court of Appeals, to uphold Kelly’s conviction and sentence, has effectively reaffirmed the legitimacy of the original trial of the Neshoba County murder case.
Neshoba County Murder Case Suspect Faces Life Sentence Without Parole
James Kelly, who was charged and subsequently found guilty in 2021 of the Neshoba County murder case, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a published article reported.
Recalling the events that led to this heart-wrenching trial, a Neshoba County jury, back in 2021, rendered a unanimous verdict, finding James Kelly guilty of the Neshoba County murder case in the case of DeMarquis Houston.
During deliberations of the Neshoba County murder case, the jury took only a short time to reach their verdict, a testament to the strength of the evidence presented against Kelly.
He stood accused alongside Tyrone Braxton, the other person charged with capital murder in connection with Houston’s death.
Braxton took a different path, opting to plead guilty to manslaughter and accepting a 20-year prison sentence, a decision that spared him from the life imprisonment that befell his co-defendant, James Kelly.
