Kamauri Kennedy

The jury trial of a Minot man accused of killing a woman in 2021 began this week with jury selection on Wednesday.

Kamauri Siede Kennedy, 35, Minot, is scheduled to appear in North Central District Court in Minot for an eight-day jury trial on two Class AA felony charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

At a hearing on Oct. 26, 2023, Judge Gary Lee told both parties to expect 75-100 potential jurors to be called, and the selection of the 12 jurors and alternates would take about a day.

Kennedy was charged with allegedly killing Dominique Kelley on June 3, 2021, after her body was found inside a burning vehicle in Minot. The affidavit of probable cause in the case has been filed under seal.

At the time of Kelley’s murder, Kennedy was on federal probation for charges relating to a 2013 conviction for a smash-and-grab at an Atlanta, Georgia, jewelry store, where he participated in the theft of 19 Rolex watches worth $600,000. The terms of his probation required him to remain in Michigan after serving five and half years in prison, but it had been determined by Minot investigators that he had been living in Minot since November 2020.

Minot police began seeking Kennedy shortly after Kelley’s body was discovered, as they found he had ties to the victim. A residence in Minot associated with Kennedy was found intentionally burned and the vehicle Kennedy fled North Dakota in was later found burned and abandoned in the Minneapolis area.

Kennedy has taken a protracted path through the court system since his apprehension by U.S. Marshals in Michigan in August, 2021, including an 11th hour attempt by his attorney William Skees to withdraw from the case due to financial issues. Skees’s withdrawal was rejected by Lee to avoid any further delay in the proceedings.

The trial is scheduled to run into next week and conclude by April 12 at the latest.