KANSAS CITY, Kan. -A murder victim made one last attempt to get help before her death. The two-second 911 call never connected, according to a key document in the case.
Deleisha “Dee Dee” Kelley, 16, died in December 2014.
A homeless man discovered Kelley’s body inside an abandoned garage near 24th Street and Monroe Avenue. Detectives don’t believe Kelley died in Kansas City, Missouri.
A newly released probable cause statement builds a case against Billy Dupree, the man prosecutors believe is responsible for Kelley’s death.
Prosecutors charged Billy Dupree with first-degree premeditated murder in Kelley’s death in January 2023. More than 9 years after the crime.
After using DNA to identify Kelley, investigators obtained his phone records, according to court documents.
The probable cause statement shows that Kelley frequently called a phone number that belonged to Billy Dupree.
The court document also shows that all outgoing calls from Kelley’s cell phone were cut off on December 18, 2014. The last call from the phone was to 911 for help, according to records. The call was never connected to the 911 operators.
Investigators then mapped the location of the victim’s cell phone. Phone records show that Kelley’s phone was in Wyandotte County the day she died, and she never left the area.
Police then questioned the victim’s family. A cousin gave investigators key information when she remembered Kelley saying she planned to be with a boyfriend in Kansas.
Detectives later identified Dupree as Kelley’s boyfriend.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took over the case as prosecutors believe that is where Kelley died.
Prosecution documents list more than 100 witnesses in the case, including former KCK police chief Terry Zeigler.
