ROCKVILLE, Md. — There’s a new twist in the case of a man who didn’t show up for sentencing in a 2014 crash that killed three women and two children.
After 27-year-old Kenneth Kelley missed his sentencing Friday, the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s office announced his capture Monday night on Twitter, saying he’s been apprehended and that more information would follow Tuesday.
Still, it’s not clear that Kelley, who had been released on bond before his May 12 sentencing, was ever put on a GPS monitoring device.
“The case file doesn’t reflect an order for a GPS monitoring device,” said Tia Lewis, communications specialist for the Prince George’s County Circuit Court.
But prosecutors believed Kelley had been ordered to wear a GPS device as a condition of his release on bond before sentencing.
On Friday, when Kelley didn’t show up for his sentencing in the 2014 Oxon Hill crash, the spokesman for the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s office, John Erzen, said prosecutors were surprised to learn that Kelley’s GPS device had been removed before sentencing.
On Monday, Erzen told WTOP that his office was sifting through transcripts from Kelley’s March sentencing hearing to determine exactly what Judge Albert Northrop had ordered at that time. At Kelley’s plea hearing, prosecutors argued against releasing him before his May 12 sentencing.
On Friday, when it was clear that Kelley was a no-show for his sentencing, the victims’ family members who attended court were infuriated, yelling that it was outrageous that Kelley had ever been allowed out on bond — with or without a GPS device.
One family member told reporters outside the courthouse that once they learned Kelley was released on bond, they knew he’d skip out. That same family member, identifying himself only as Darryl, told reporters, “He’s still not going to show up.”
Kelley pleaded guilty to 28 counts in the deaths of 34-year-old Tameika Curtis, 32-year-old Typhani Wilkerson, 1-year-old Hassan Boykin, 13-year-old Khadiua Ba and 21-year-old Dominique Green.
Police say at the time of the October 2014 crash, Kelley had been drinking and registered a blood alcohol level of nearly twice the legal limit.
He faces a 50-year prison sentence.
WTOP’s Teta Alim contributed to this report.
