Defendant in Boysville murder case accepts plea
MONROE — One of two remaining defendants in the murder case of a Monroe woman at an abandoned juvenile detention facility in Frenchtown Township has entered a no contest plea.
Brin David Westley Smith, 21, of Monroe pleaded no contest Tuesday in 38th Circuit Court to second-degree murder in connection with the death of 23-year-old Kayla Sedoskey, according to Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffrey Yorkey and the Michigan State Police.
Terms of the plea include a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years in prison and the dismissal of the original charges against him, open murder and first-degree murder, when he's sentenced May 30 by Circuit Judge Daniel S. White.
Smith had been scheduled to go on trial starting April 22. Second-degree murder and the original charges against Smith all carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, but first-degree murder's penalty is mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The last remaining defendant is 33-year-old Kaylyn Marie Ramsey. Her trial on charges of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide is scheduled to begin May 13.
Sedoskey's body was found March 2, 2023, at the abandoned Boysville Juvenile Facility in Frenchtown Township. She had been shot three times. The investigation showed the murder happened between 10 p.m. Feb. 15 and 12:30 a.m. Feb. 16.
The prosecution and defense agreed to a factual basis, which said Smith lured Sedoskey to the facility under the guise they would spend time there alone, Yorkey wrote in his news release. Once there, Sedoskey was attacked by her killers.
The plea comes after the conviction on March 22 of Steven Douglas Bails following a jury trial with more than 20 witnesses and 60 exhibits. A jury in that case took 90 minutes to return a guilty verdict to a charge of first-degree murder. Testimony included accounts from co-defendants Sierra Nicole Bemis, Alexander Robert Feko and the defendant’s wife, Narena Picola Bails.
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Narena Bails, 24, and Bemis, 24, have pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide. Feko, 27, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and three counts of accessory to homicide after the fact.
Sentencing for those three and Steven Bails is scheduled for May 23.
Yorkey thanked the team of law enforcement officials from both the Michigan State Police and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Michigan State Police Crime Lab.
The prosecution team was led by senior trial attorneys Leah Hubbard and Ragan Lake. Victim rights specialist Alana Horkey provided comfort to Sedoskey's family.
Smith was represented by attorneys Ben Gonek, Sean Myers and Leanna Belcher, according to court records.
— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Defendant in Boysville murder case accepts plea
