Highland Township, MI: Highland Twp. man to stand trial in sister's slaying

Highland Twp. man to stand trial in sister's slaying

By L.L. BRASIER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Highland Township man today was found competent to stand trial in the rape and murder of his 17-year-old sister earlier this year.

Steven Kelsey, 20, will go on trial Dec. 7, charged with first-degree felony murder in the Jan. 1 stabbing death and sexual assault of his sister, Jesika Kelsey, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Edward Sosnick ruled in a brief hearing this afternoon. Kelsey, handcuffed and wearing orange jail garb, was escorted into the courtroom by three deputies.

Kelsey's defense attorney, Michael McCarthy, had planned to argue that Kelsey was insane at the time of the killing. But both state psychiatrists and an independent psychiatrist found that Kelsey was sane, and that he is mentally competent to assist his attorney in his defense.

Today, after those psychiatric reports were submitted to the court by Assistant Prosecutor Hala Jarbou, McCarthy withdrew his motion to argue an insanity defense. The psychiatrists also found that Kelsey, who gave a lengthy statement to investigators after the killing, was competent enough to waive his Miranda rights at the time he made the statements.

Jarbou said her office was awaiting DNA tests. Investigators hope to link semen found in an autopsy of Jesika Kelsey to Steven Kelsey. Outside the courtroom today, McCarthy said he may seek an independent DNA analysis, which could delay the trial.

Kelsey, according to investigators, had recently returned to the family's Highland Township mobile home following army training camp and was sharing a bedroom with his sister.

If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.