Married man accused of killing girlfriend will not take the stand, summations coming

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A Collin County jury is hearing closing arguments in the Ocastor Ferguson murder trial Thursday morning.

Ferguson, who is married, is accused of killing his girlfriend Kayla Kelley, burning her car, and burying her near his Grand Prairie home.

Before both sides rested, Ferguson opted not to take the stand in his defense, though he paused before telling the judge he chose not to testify.

Ferguson has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Both sides will give closing arguments, each side will get 20 minutes to make their case to the jury.

WIFE OF MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS GIRLFRIEND TESTIFIES

The trial began Tuesday with testimony from local and state police, Kelley’s cousin, and Ferguson’s own wife.

Kelley's co-workers at Raytheon called her family out of state after she failed to show up to work for a third day, leading them to contact the police.

On Wednesday, prosecutors and an investigator with the Texas Rangers said Ferguson’s efforts to create an alibi ‘is what got him caught.’

Data recovered from Ferguson's mobile phone and analyzed by local and state police detectives is what led police to Kelley’s body in January 2023, one week after she was reported missing, according to the state.

Ferguson, 33, is accused of murdering Kelley, burning her car in Frisco, and burying her in a wooded area less than half a mile from his Grand Prairie home.

Police found Kelley, 33, in a shallow grave lying face down and nude.

The trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend took a dramatic turn when the wife of the suspect was called to testify. Prosecutors claim Kayla Kelley was killed after discovering her boyfriend was married and then told his wife about their affair. NBC 5’ Maria Guerrero has the story.

According to the medical examiner, she had been suffocated with an unknown object. Kelley’s death was ruled a homicide.

Dr. Stacey Murthy of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office testified Kelley’s neck sustained most of her injuries. One side of her neck was more injured than the other, she said. Ferguson’s attorney, Edwin “Bubba” King asked Murthy if it was possible Kelley’s injuries could have been caused by auto-erotic asphyxia and could be classified as such. Murthy said it is possible, but Kelley’s death is ruled a homicide because of how her body was found in the grave.

A timeline presented by the state suggests what may have led to Kelley’s murder early in the morning of Jan. 10, 2023.

Police believe Kelley took Ferguson’s cell phone at 2:29 a.m. and began sending a series of text messages to women he was also reportedly seeing, texting: ‘This is his girlfriend. He also has a wife. I know. I’m just as shocked as you.’

That is Kelley’s last possible communication.

Two hours later, mobile phone data and surveillance video captured only Kelley’s car and Ferguson’s mobile phone leaving her home.

Throughout the morning and day Ferguson’s locations trace him to a Walmart where he’s seen carrying a gas can out, he’s then seen at a gas station purchasing gas and a lighter with cash.

Ferguson is later tracked to his work in Grand Prairie where a surveillance camera in a break room captured him holding three mobile phones, one of which is Kelley’s according to police.

Collin County Sheriff's Office

Ocastor Ferguson

He proceeded to send multiple text messages expressing concern because she hadn't responded or brought him lunch. One text that was shown to jurors read, ‘Baby where you at’?

Ferguson then left work without clocking out, according to his employer, and headed to a wooded area near his home where police said he continued to send his lover messages.

Asked why this is significant, Texas Rangers detective Thomas Fitzpatrick responded: “We knew he was there looking at her dead, texting her’ and ‘He’s digging her grave, texting and asking why she’s not responding.”

Prosecutors also showed records of a new Lyft account created by Ferguson and used to order a ride back home after setting her SUV on fire and abandoning it in rural Frisco.

Ferguson’s wife, Latrina Chandler, took the stand for the defense late Wednesday afternoon. Chandler, who also uses her married name and is still married to Ferguson, smiled at her husband. She told jurors she met Ferguson in 2010 in his native Jamaica where he worked at a hotel.

She said after they married in 2018, she soon began to have suspicions of infidelity. The woman testified she would make Ferguson sleep in their backyard or his car and that occasionally women would show up at her house looking for him.

Chandler flew out of DFW Airport early on Jan. 10. She told jurors she believes other people were involved in Kelley’s disappearance and said she told Detective Fitzpatrick a man threatened Ferguson with a gun but that the investigator did not appear to be interested in her information.

Fitzpatrick later testified the information was not deemed credible.