Charles Crane/MDN Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney John Michael Gonzalez delivers the prosecution's closing arguments in the murder trial of Kamauri Kennedy, saying Kennedy was the only individual with the means, motive and opportunity to kill Domonique Kelley on June 3, 2021.

Kamauri Kennedy, 35, was found guilty of the murder of Domonique Kelley after three and half hours of jury deliberation.

The jury of 12 found Kennedy guilty after five days of testimony from state witnesses wrapped up Monday. Kennedy’s defense called no witnesses. Closing arguments were delivered Tuesday.

Before hearing closing arguments, the jury was informed by North Central District Judge Gary Lee that following a motion from Kennedy’s Attorney William Harvey Skees, the court had determined there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, and they would not be considering it during their deliberations, leaving only the Class AA felony count of murder.

Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney John Michael Gonzalez delivered the prosecution’s closing argument, saying, “It has been a long three years for the victim’s family.”

Gonzalez reviewed the various elements of the State’s case with a PowerPoint which highlighted the 25 witnesses, five experts, five locations and three vehicles presented during the trial. Throughout his closing, Gonzalez stressed the group effort involved in the investigation of Kelley’s death and the subsequent actions taken by Kennedy to cover up his involvement.

Gonzalez broke down the timeline of the case, which he said was incited in part by encounters between the two and law enforcement at a residence used by a drug ring Kennedy was involved in on May 19, 2021, and a traffic stop of Kelley’s vehicle at 10:35 p.m. on June 2, 2021, initiated by investigators with the Ward County Narcotics Task Force.

The state’s case tied Kennedy to a narcotics distribution ring led by Eric Williams of Detroit that operated in properties in Minot leased to Williams’ girlfriend, Ashley Gibson. Kennedy would ultimately use a Chrysler 300 purchased with cash by Gibson to flee North Dakota before torching it under a bridge in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Gonzalez acknowledged Gibson’s testimony and statements to investigators likely contained some fabrications, as he said she was trying to protect Kennedy, with whom she is close. However, Gonzalez said Gibson was a part of a “sophisticated operation,” which had accumulated a great deal of money operating in the Minot area and nearby reservations. Both Williams and Gibson have been convicted in federal court for their roles in the operation.

The last known communication between Kelley and Kennedy occurred at about 12:18 a.m. on June 3, 2021, with Kennedy’s location tied to the IP address at a residence at 717½ 1st Ave. SE in Minot. Kelley’s Impala and a GMC Yukon XL were later seen traveling together, heading north through Minot by Farstad Oil at 100 27th St. NE at 12:37 a.m. According to the prosecution’s timeline, only 25 minutes elapsed between this final communication and when the fire from Kelley’s Impala was spotted by BNSF employee Matthew Phillips.

Testimony from ATF Agent Derek Hill showed that based on CO2 levels, Kelley was still breathing and alive at the time the fire was started. Gonzalez said Kelley’s cause of death was determined by Dr. Barrie Miller with the State Crime Lab to be carbon monoxide inhalation with thermal trauma from the fire. Kelley’s remains were identified from a DNA comparison with her mother.

Gonzalez said Kelley was murdered by Kennedy due to the “noise” she had created for the operation following an incident between the two at one of the operation’s rented residences and the traffic stop which resulted in a citation for marijuana possession.

“He tried to run and cover it up. He had hope he’d never be sitting here today,” Gonzalez said. “He tried to erase her completely. He tried to erase the memory of Domonique Kelley. Why? Because it’s good for business.”

Skees said his client was charged due to a “targeted investigation” which disregarded other potential suspects. Skees questioned why the state’s evidence did not include Kelley’s phone records, which could have implicated additional individuals in her death. Skees said there were a lot of unanswered questions intentionally left unexplored in the case, such as DNA evidence linked to another member of the drug ring, Jason Arnold, and he just wanted “the right person to be held accountable.”

“They open questions for you, hoping that you would fill in the blanks with information with the assumptions you would have to draw from evidence that has nothing directly with the defendant other than Jane Doe was killed,” Skees said. “Look at what they could have done. Look at what they didn’t. You don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to. They didn’t ask the question because they were afraid of the answer. Instead, let’s just focus on one person from the get go.”

Kennedy faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction. Kennedy’s sentencing date has not been set, but he will appear in North Central District Court on Oct. 4, for a preliminary hearing in an unrelated case.

Kennedy is charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon by an inmate, among other charges, for allegedly attacking another inmate at the Ward County Jail with an improvised weapon.