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Gilliam

ELKINS — Jurors began deliberations Thursday in a murder trial in Randolph County Circuit Court — but were sent home for the day without reaching a verdict.

After two days of testimony, 59-year-old Kenneth Gilliam, who is on trial for the first-degree murder of his stepfather, took the witness stand himself on Thursday afternoon to testify.

Gilliam was arrested after his stepfather Donald Kelly, 75, was stabbed to death on March 5, 2022, in the home Gilliam shared with his mother and Kelly on Diamond Street in Elkins. He was charged in November 2022.

The prosecution, led by Randolph County Attorney Michael Parker, rested its case Thursday morning after four additional witnesses took the stand, including Joel Harvey and Bailey Hill, forensic scientists with the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory, and Sergeants David Simmons and West Virginia State Police Kenneth Corley, former members of the State Police Crime Team.

Harvey and Hill spoke about the DNA evidence they examined, while Simmons and Corley testified about what they saw when they arrived at the Kelly residence on March 5. Corley has since retired from the state police.

After a brief break, Gilliam's defense team, consisting of Harrison County attorney James Hawkins Jr. and Tucker County attorney Brent Easton, called Kimberly Jones to the stand. Jones and her husband James Jones have been neighbors with the Kellys and Gilliams since 2013.

On the witness stand, Kimberly Jones recalled an incident on May 30, 2016, in which Kelly was arrested for assaulting Gilliam.

She testified that in 2016, she witnessed Kelly throw Gilliam off the porch twice and began while pushing Gilliam to the ground “shattering” Gilliam's head repeats on the stone path to the Kellys' house. Jones says she had to stop Kelly from sitting on Gilliam.

“And I said, 'You're going to kill him, Don'” Jones said on the witness stand Thursday. “(Kelly) said, ‘This is what I’m trying to do. I'm going to kill him.”

Jones then said Kelly and Gilliam both grabbed shovels and walked toward each other until her husband came out. She explained that other neighbors also saw the fight and one of them called the police, who then arrived. Kelly was arrested on assault charges, but the charges were later dropped, officials said.

“Oh, (Kelly) hated him.” Jones said. “He hated Kenny and wasn’t afraid to say it.”

James Jones, who was called to the stand after his wife, also said Kelly was the attacker in the 2016 incident. James Jones was a former schoolmate of Gilliam.

“(Gilliam) was lying flat on his back.” James Jones told the court. “He couldn’t fight. I don’t know if he drank too much or what, but he wasn’t able to fight back and Don was on top of him, banging his head on the rocks out there.”

Jones agreed with his wife that Kelly “Basically just hated” Gilliam adds that Kelly “didn’t care about him, didn’t want anything to do with him.”

Gilliam was called as the defense's final witness. He was asked to recall the events of March 5, 2022. He willingly chose to take the stand in his own defense.

On the witness stand, Gilliam explained that he originally called 911 because he was worried Kelly might hurt him or his mother and wanted someone sent to their home to help. After hanging up, Gilliam said he was chopping onions for a sandwich when Kelly came into the kitchen and yelled at him for even calling 911. He said Kelly grabbed him by the arms and spun him around before pulling him closer. At that point, Gilliam said he held out the knife and Kelly was stabbed.

“I was afraid for my life” Gilliam told the court.

According to the 2022 criminal complaint, Gilliam called 911 to report that Kelly was verbally abusing and threatening him and his mother. Then he said to the operator: “If someone doesn’t come up and get him, I’m going to kill him right now.” After answering a few questions from the operator, Gilliam said: “It doesn’t matter, you can’t do anything, I’ll do it.” before you hang up the phone.

911 reportedly called again to check on the situation and spoke with Betty Kelly, Gilliam's mother, who said nothing was wrong. About 10 minutes later, Gilliam called 911 back and said he had just stabbed Kelly in the chest area. The complaint also states Gilliam told dispatchers he used a kitchen knife.

When asked by Hawkins, Gilliam said he was afraid of Kelly and said Kelly had made threats in the past that he would do so “Attachment” Gilliam and his mother and “They wouldn’t do anything about it.” Gilliam said he believes these were threats to her life. Gilliam described the feeling of Kelly's hands on his body as something akin to being “A mouse caught in a trap.”

However, Gilliam insisted that he had no intention of killing or harming Kelly, only that he wanted to protect his mother and himself. He said after stabbing Kelly, he called 911 again for help.

“Why did you call 911 at this time?” Hawkins asked Gilliam.

“Because he was injured. To get him help,” Gilliam replied.

During cross-examination, Parker asked Gilliam if he said in the first 911 call: “It doesn’t matter, you can’t do anything, I’ll do it.” Gilliam replied that he intended to “take care of” himself and his mother if necessary.

Parker mentioned that Gilliam could be heard talking to his mother on hold during the third 911 call. According to Parker, Betty Kelly said: “You know you have to go to prison” and Gilliam replied: “I don't care.”

Gilliam did not deny this and stated during Hawkins' relay that he knew they would find out it was him “in the right to do what (he) had to do.”

Parker asked if Gilliam was afraid of Kelly and why he stayed home after the first 911 call, to which Gilliam said he wanted to stay with his mother.

“Are you telling this jury that you were so afraid of Mr. Kelly that you called 911 and told them you would rather kill him than leave the house?” Parker asked Gilliam.

“NO. I called 911 to see if I could get help because I didn't want to leave my mother with him.” Gilliam said.

“Are you telling the jury that you were so afraid of Mr. Kelly that you made yourself a baloney sandwich rather than leave the house and escape from Mr. Kelly?” Then Parker asked.

“I knew I had to stay there because of my mother” Gilliam replied.

The defense rested after Gilliam's testimony.

In closing arguments, Parker told the jury that this was the case “as simple as it is tragic.”

“The defendant called 911 and told them he was going to kill Mr. Kelly, and within 10 minutes he did exactly what he told 911. He stabbed Mr. Kelly and killed him.” Parker said. “This is intentional. This is consideration. This is intentional. Ladies and gentlemen, this is first degree murder.”

In his closing argument, Easton told the jury that if they were to reach a guilty verdict for his client, they would first have to be completely certain of Gilliam's guilt and that the state had proven its case.

“We have two counts here… In order for the jury to convict Mr. Gilliam of any of these offenses, you must be satisfied that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that each and every element is related to these offenses.” Easton said. “If not, you can’t judge. For example, if there are six elements and you feel like five are established… if you feel like there are five but not six. This is an acquittal. It's not like horseshoes, there's no point in getting closer. It’s all or nothing, and if it’s nothing, it’s not guilty.”

The jury deliberated for about two hours on Thursday afternoon before being sent home after 5 p.m. The jury will continue its deliberations today.