Monroe County jury convicts ex-boyfriend in Boysville murder case
MONROE — A jury has convicted a Monroe County man of first-degree homicide in the first trial of a group of defendants accused in a case involving the murder of a Monroe woman whose body was found at the abandoned Boysville Juvenile Detention Center in Frenchtown Township.
Steven Douglas Bails Jr., 45, of Frenchtown Township was convicted Thursday, March 22, by a jury in the 38th Circuit Court in Monroe of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in connection to the death of 23-year-old Kayla Sedoskey.
Sedoskey’s body was found March 2, 2023, by high school students who were exploring the Boysville facility, Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffrey Yorkey said. She had been shot three times and her body wrapped in a tarp. The investigation showed the murder happened between 10 p.m. Feb. 15 and 12:30 a.m. Feb. 16, 2023, at Boysville.
The Michigan State Police conducted a year-long investigation into her death and subsequently arrested six suspects, including Steven Bails.
Sedoskey and Bails had once been in a romantic relationship, Yorkey said in an interview. She and all of the defendants had been roommates at one point, state police Detective/Sgt. Michael Peterson said.
The trial included more than 20 witnesses and 60 exhibits, Yorkey said in a news release. Testimony included accounts from co-defendants Sierra Nicole Bemis, Alexander Robert Feko and the defendant’s wife, Narena Picola Bails, all of whom already pleaded guilty for their involvement in the crime.
Steven Bails did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses, according to court records. His attorney was Steven Jedinak of Monroe.
The jury took an hour and a half to return a guilty verdict to end the four-day trial.
On the third day of the trial, Circuit Judge Daniel S. White dismissed one of the jurors for falling asleep, Yorkey said.
"The rest of the jurors were pretty perturbed about it," Yorkey said. "They felt the same way that, obviosuly, the judge did."
There were 14 jurors selected to start the trial, to allow for medical emergencies or other reasons a juror could not complete their service. With one juror dismissed during the trial, there was only one excused before deliberations started to narrow the jury to usual 12.
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 all four is scheduled for May 23.
Brin David Westley Smith, 20, and Kaylyn Marie Ramsey, 33, are both awaiting trial on charges of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide. Smith's trial is scheduled to begin April 22, and Ramsey's is scheduled for May 13.
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Both Yorkey and Peterson said there were some aspects of the case they did not want to discuss because of the upcoming trials.
The Michigan State Police were assisted in their investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Huron County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office, the New Hanover County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Shelby, Ohio, Police Department.
Anyone with any information related to Sedoskey’s death is asked to contact Peterson at 734-242-3500.
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. Peterson, from the Monroe Post of the state police, lead the investigation. Dozens of law enforcement officials worked between agencies to collect the evidence used in this case, Yorkey said.
The prosecution team was led by senior trial attorneys Leah Hubbard and Ragan Lake. Victim rights specialist Alana Horkey helped to coordinate the numerous witnesses all while providing comfort to Sedoskey's family. Assistant prosecuting attorney Jonathon Jones assisted with the technical aspects of the prosecution’s case.
— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County jury convicts ex-boyfriend in Boysville murder case
