Charles Crane/MDN Kamauri Kennedy is shown at the Ward County Courthouse Tuesday after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the murder of Dominique Kelly.

A man convicted earlier this year for the 2021 murder of Dominique Kelly in Minot was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in North Central District Court on Tuesday.

Kamauri Kennedy, 35, appeared for sentencing before Judge Gary Lee, who was asked by assistant Ward County State’s Attorney John Gonzalez to deliver the harshest sentence possible.

Gonzalez noted Kennedy was on federal and state level parole at the time Kelly’s murder occurred, and any possibility of parole was out of the question given the gravity of his offense. Gonzalez reiterated Kennedy’s lengthy criminal record as well as his resistance to reform while on parole, due to his connections to a fentanyl ring in Minot that was distributing the narcotic in reservations and communities throughout North Dakota.

“We have two state agencies that could not ascertain his whereabouts to prevent him from coming to North Dakota to continue to peddle drugs in the community, which eventually led to the crime of murder, the reason we are all here today,” Gonzalez said. “Parole itself is not something that we can justify. This is an individual that has earned the highest sanctions of the State of North Dakota. He has earned every moment of time behind bars. To entertain the idea that this is an individual who in the future will be allowed to breathe free air in a free community in a free country is not something that should be entertained.”

Kennedy’s attorney William Harvey Skees appealed to Lee to deliver a sentence that left the door open for parole on the grounds his client’s criminal record doesn’t support the notion that he wouldn’t be reformed after serving a lengthy sentence.

“If there’s no way the system reforms him, that’s a slap in the face of the system itself,” Skees said.

Skees said his client maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which was also cited in the presentence investigation. He said Kennedy intended to file an appeal with the North Dakota Supreme Court.

Lee asked Kennedy if had anything to say on his own behalf, and he responded by reiterating his denial that he was involved in Kelly’s death.

“I didn’t do this. I would never hurt a female. I never had a problem with this woman,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy pointed to the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, which Lee dismissed during the trial, and raised the possibility that the actual dispute on the night in question was with individuals who appeared as state witnesses. Kennedy also mentioned his rejection of a plea deal offered to him before the trial that would have included a sentence of 25 years in prison, saying he turned it down because he “will not serve time for something I didn’t do.”

Kennedy concluded his statement saying he was sorry Kelly was murdered but maintained he had nothing to do with it.

Lee responded saying he wasn’t there to second guess the jury, who found him guilty of going to a rural part of Ward County with Kelly, shooting her in the head, dousing her with gasoline and lighting her and the vehicle she was in on fire. Lee cited evidence and testimony presented at the trial, which found Kelly had died of smoke inhalation and not from the gunshot, showing she was still alive while the vehicle was engulfed in flames.

“This was a horrible, horrible death. From the trial evidence Mr. Kennedy planned this, executed it, and tried to cover it by burning up the evidence of his wrongdoing,” Lee said. “Further, there was evidence produced at trial linking Mr. Kennedy to a large illegal drug trafficking ring in Minot. There is evidence to suggest that this murder was somehow linked to that gang activity. This was essentially a gangland type execution. A horrific crime.”

Lee cited the findings of the presentence investigation, which found Kennedy had a 70% likelihood that he would reoffend if he were to be released, and agreed with the state that he would be unlikely to respond well to parole and probation.

“Given the horrific nature of this crime, the horrible death that Ms. Kelly suffered, considering the factors cited above and considering the information in the presentence investigation, it is my belief and order that this is the type of crime that the Legislature has carved out for the most severe of all possible sentences,” Lee said.