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Who is John Kelsey?
December 15, 2016
John Coryell Kelsey III is an inmate
at the St. Louis Correctional Facility. His earliest release date is
December 9, 2034 at which time he will be 54 years old. He was 35 at
the time of his sentencing in 2015.
His long
arrest and conviction record includes no assaultive offenses.
Prior to his July 22, 2015 sentencing hearing, his attorney and
several friends and relatives submitted letters to Judge Jamo asking
for mercy. Those letters paint a picture of John Kelsey, the man.
Following are excerpts from those letters:
Attorney Brian Morley:
John Kelsey is thirty-five years
old born in Brighton, Michigan. He is the second oldest of four
children and has three sisters, Dawn Hadley Waggoner, Christina
Kelsey, and Alicia Waggoner, all of whom live in the Brighton,
Michigan area. John Kelsey has strong bonds and relationships
with each of his sisters.
His parents, Frank and Marcia,
live in Brighton, Michigan and have for all of Mr. Kelsey's
life. His Father is retired from the construction industry; his
Mother is retired from University of Michigan Hospital where she
was a lead MRI Technologist.
Mr. Kelsey graduated from Brighton
High School. Ever since his late teenage years, he has been
employed as a union carpenter - both with a then-existing family
business as well as on his own - and has established an
excellent reputation within the mid-Michigan area for his
workmanship.
Although never married, he
maintained a serious and long-term relationship with Megan
Johnson. Ms. Johnson and Mr. Kelsey have two children in common:
Jonathan Coryell Kelsey - age 11, and Taylor Lorraine Kelsey -
age 8. To say that Mr. Kelsey is close with his children is an
understatement. He has worked hard to maintain a close and
loving family relationship with his children as well as the
mother of his children and spends a considerable amount of time
with the children.
Approximately nine years ago, Mr.
Kelsey was involved in a serious automobile accident which
resulted in a closed-head injury. Plainly speaking, it took Mr.
Kelsey a number of years to overcome the difficulties associated
with his injury and be able to fully and properly function on a
daily basis.
Although this Court is aware of
Mr. Kelsey's prior criminal history, it is relevant to note that
his more serious offenses occurred at least a decade ago.
Further, and as is evident in his criminal background, Mr.
Kelsey's prior convictions have not involved what could be
classified as dangerous felonies. In other words, Mr. Kelsey's
life was, and is, on the right trajectory and with an
appropriate sentence, he will be able to continue his path
towards being a fully contributing member to society as a whole
as well as to his family and children.
Marcia McGarry, John's mother:
 John and I are very close and have
had many discussions about his future goals and dreams. In the
past 8-9 years he has worked very hard to put his life on track.
He has made me proud to he his mother through kind deeds for
people who cannot afford to pay for work, or are physically
challenged and are not able to do necessary home repairs. He is
a loving person with a big heart. Unfortunately, he has not been
able to obtain some of the goals that he needs in order to
succeed due to limitations or lack of resources.
My son is a devoted father to his
two children, Jonathon 10 and Taylor 8. John is deeply engaged
in their school work and after school functions. He has been a
patient and loving teacher, sharing his expertise and
encouragement with whatever upcoming interests that his children
are involved. In the past, John and his family have enjoyed
camping, biking, kayaking, fishing and a lot of good times
around the campfire. Jonathon and Taylor speak well of their Dad
and desperately need him back in their young lives. John's
children have asked me to communicate that they love their
father very deeply, and miss him terribly. They are praying for
his expedited return home to them.
Sister Alicia Waggoner:
The easiest way to convey my
brother's true character is to relay to you some stories from
our past. Growing up, my brother watched over my sisters and me.
Being the only boy, with three sisters. I think he felt a great
responsibility to protect us all. Insisting that he escort my
friends and I to school dances as teenagers. Helping me payoff
debt of my first credit card. Most notably coming to my rescue
when my husband deployed to Iraq in 200H. During his deployment
I purchased our home in Howell, which needed extensive repair.
My brother helped me almost daily, volunteering his time and
expertise. He added a new roof, windows, drywall, and more. He
was at my beckon call. Even after my husband returned and John
purchased his own home that also needed much work he was putting
new siding on mine. During the fall of 2014, he was spending
most of his days after work helping my husband load, haul, cut
and stack wood to heat our homes. It gave me comfort to know my
husband wasn't doing this job alone. Your honor. this is who my
brother is. At any time, he would drop everything to help his
loved ones. Always finding a way to be there and do the job
skillfully. Hard working and dependable are some of his greatest
traits.
More importantly, he is a
dedicated and loving father. If you look at the pictures of him
and his children, you will see his heart. Committed to finding a
way to be at his son's games, his daughters dance recitals, and
their school functions. He took them to church with him in
Brighton and spent his time with them in a quality manner. He
tried to make sure that his kids had a great life and showed
them love immensely. It hurts me to think he will miss the rest
of their adolescent years. They are the ones who will be most
affected by his absence.
Brother-in-law Jon Waggoner,
Livingston County Veterans' Services Director:
John and I have not been close
friends in the past and I truly didn't know him very well until
I returned to Michigan after a six year enlistment in the Army,
ending in 2010.
In 2008 I deployed to Iraq in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and sent my wife (John's
sister) back to Michigan, from Alaska, to purchase a home and be
near her family while I was deployed. She purchased a home in
Howell that had been foreclosed and was in need of extensive
renovation. While I was not available to work on our new home
John stepped in and helped out. It gave me great comfort to know
that while I was away fighting a war my wife was being cared for
and the repairs would be done correctly.
John is a skilled carpenter and
works very hard to make sure any job that he is doing is done in
a quality manner. He too purchased a home that had been
foreclosed and was in need of renovation. He made sure that the
first two rooms that were renovated were the bedrooms for his
two children, Johnathan and Taylor, while he slept on the couch
in the living room. He is a dedicated father and we spent many
hours discussing his desire to make a better life for his
children and of his concern that they not make some of the
mistakes he had made.
The man that I had gotten to know
over the past four years is a dedicated father, a loving brother
and a dependable friend who is trying to be a better man and
raise his children to be honest and law abiding citizens.
Family friend Tom Forster, retired
group therapist at W. J. Maxey Boy's Training School:
I have known John Kelsey for more
than thirty years. He and my son were good friends since grade
school. Their friendship brought us together with John's family.
Throughout his years since high school, I've known John to be a
reliable and skilled carpenter, true to his word and, more
recently, a dedicated father. He is not a bad person. He has
never committed an act of violence or theft. Up to this point he
has been a hard working and productive member of society. As
reported by one of the prosecution witnesses [V3-76],
he was there for his children every day after school.
Sandra McGarry, John's aunt:
Johnny has had some struggles in
his life. and I saw him a couple of years ago when I visited: he
was doing very good, taking a very active part in his family,
the gatherings: he has a good sense of humor, his children and
sisters love him. he is a personable and extremely likable young
man. . . John is a wonderful and talented carpenter. He can
build and fix anything. He absolutely could be an asset to any
community.
Al Maloney:
As I have been a long time family
friend I have grown to love him like a son. John in my eyes has
always been a good person and never wanted to cause harm to
anyone. He has gone out of his way many times to help me just,
out of the kindness of his heart. He has two great kids, John
Jr. and Taylor that need the love and guidance of their father;
please don't take him away from them for any more time then what
is right.
I know that whatever happened that
night, it was never John's intension for anyone to be hurt. He
just isn't made that way. Sometimes things happen that never
should have. I believe that even the jurors knew that.
John had been making great
progress in his life, changing it for the better for himself and
his children. He and his ex-wife were almost to the point of
getting back together. He had been telling me that he wanted to
start his own roofing company and how that would bring
everything back into prospective.
Kathryn Laurain:
I am a longtime friend of the
Kelsey family, and have known John since he was very young. I
have known him to be a kind, and hard working man. He is a good
and responsible father; always trying to do his best for his
children, that I am certain will suffer in his absences.
I am aware that John has made an
attempt to get back his drivers license, and was denied. In
light of this, not having been in trouble for a long time, I can
imagine how difficult it is for a grown man, with children,
trying to do the right thing, not having the freedom to drive. .
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(Note: John told me that he had taken
steps to try and restore his license
to the extent of setting up payment plans with the state for
driver's responsibility fees and paying them about $3,000 in a year's
time.)
Sharon Karston, USMC (retired):
I have known John Kelsey of 4109
Morton Road, Stockbridge, construction and roofing worker, for
some time now. Both professionally and socially through his
family and friends. I know him as a son, a brother and most
importantly as a father to his two young children.
I understand that John Kelsey has
be convicted by a jury of his peers on two charges. I am aware
of this as I was present during his trial. He is very upset
about the charges because of his belief in his innocence. I also
believe that John is sincerely as upset for the loss that this
family must endure as a result of this case.
John has been under a lot of
stress trying to make a new start for himself and his children.
Imagine if you will how John must have been feeling when he
finally had things in his life going so right. And not only for
him but for his children too. John recently had found a place he
could call "his home". And it was this place that John has been
working so very hard on to make it just that, "Home". With a
sincere heart I can say that despite these charges against John
I would trust him with anything of value of mine, including my
life.
I can only say that in all the
time I have known him, John Kelsey has been a decent,
hardworking and trustworthy person. I believe any behavior he
has displayed that caused him to be charged with these crimes
are a result of his youth and that our society lacked in
providing him with the proper tools to move completely forward
in a world such as ours. I know from personal experience what it
is like to look at life through the eyes of disparity. And so it
is in that, I ask your Honor to show mercy on John. He is still
young enough that he could recover from this and have a chance
at being a good father to his children, a loving son to his
parents and an amazing brother to his siblings.
Sister Dawn Hadley:
My brother has made incredible
progress as a man, son, and father over the past few years. I
have watched him responsibly and actively participate in his
children's lives and be an attentive son to my retired parents.
 He has offered his time and labor
to all of us, completing numerous tasks without ever expecting
anything in return. We have always had a very close relationship
and I have enjoyed raising our children together and I would
trust him with my life. He is an incredibly loyal and reliable
friend to me and his absence has been incredibly painful for our
family but especially tough on his kids.
It has been my brothers commitment
to his kids that has really impacted me the most, he has
repeatedly reminded me of his wish that they get the tools they
need so that they "won't make the same mistakes" that he did
when he was younger. He has successfully co-parented with the
children's mother, ensuring that my nephew get to Sylvan
Learning Center every Saturday for tutoring. The kids are
involved consistently in multiple community sports and dance and
have been since they were old enough to participate. Since John
didn't have a license it was incredibly difficult to accomplish
all of this, but it didn't deter him. Instead he humbly asked
for rides and coordinated schedules with friends and family to
be on time and available for all of it. It was incredibly rare
that he drove himself anywhere, he did so much for others, they
were willing to help him. I believe if he gets the opportunity
to continue parenting his children in this way that they will
have a positive impact on society.
My parents have spent a third of
their retirement on my brother's defense because they believed
in his innocence and have suffered daily since his arrest. I
want more than anything for him to be able to be productive for
his parents and his kids so that true healing take place. I
believe that John was at the point in his life when true
progress and learning were taking place and he was positively
impacting the lives around him before this incident. It is for
these reasons I am ask you for leniency when you decide his
fate. Thank you sincerely for taking this into consideration.
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