Kelly found guilty of capital murder

A jury deliberated for approximately one hour in Neshoba County Circuit Court on Tuesday afternoon before returning with a guilty verdict in the capital murder trial of James Walter Kelly Jr. in which the victim’s body was weighed down and anchored in a small pond in the Hope community.

The death penalty was not considered in the case and a sentencing date for Kelly had not been set as of Tuesday afternoon.

The trial began Monday and the jury was sent out to deliberate just after lunch on Tuesday.

During the trial, the prosecution called seven witnesses, including two defendants who had pleaded guilty to their parts in the case earlier this year.

Initially, three people were charged with capital murder in the Oct. 19, 2019, slaying of Demarcus Houston, 19, of Philadelphia, who died by suffocation, according to records.

Houston’s body was later discovered weighted down and anchored in 4 or 5 feet of water in a small pond at Hope.

District attorney Steve Kilgore said Houston was dead before his body was placed in the pond.

Two of the three pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges. Tyrone Braxton, 24, and Joanna Brook Gilmer, 26, pleaded guilty in a plea bargain with the district attorney’s office. Braxton was sentenced to 20 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Gilmer was sentenced to 12 years.

Houston’s family had reported him missing Oct. 23, 2019. Acting on a tip, Sheriff Eric Clark and other law enforcement agencies drained the pond and found the body. Initially, the Neshoba County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations charged nine people after the body was found on Feb. 14, 2020.

Check for updates to this story at neshobademocrat.com.