On the morning of March 8, 2022, a violent scene unfolded in the Hyde Park neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Michael Kelly, a 72-year-old male landlord who owned multiple properties in the area, arrived at his real estate office in the 3900 block of North 25th Street. As he sat in the driver's seat of his pickup truck, a gunman approached the vehicle carrying a rifle.
Surveillance footage later recovered by investigators captured the assailant walking up to the truck and firing nearly thirty rounds into the cab. Struck multiple times, Kelly lost control of the vehicle, which accelerated and crashed into the front of his own office building. By the time first responders arrived, he had succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Homicide detectives quickly turned their attention to the security camera footage, which not only recorded the shooting but also showed a gray Nissan Sentra following Kelly’s truck just moments before the attack. The investigation revealed that the sedan was a rental vehicle registered to Deseray Rabb. Further probing uncovered a contentious landlord-tenant dispute between Kelly and Rabb, who had stopped paying rent on a residence she occupied on North 22nd Street. Despite a court-ordered eviction, she had refused to vacate the property. Authorities identified the gunman as James Cody Jr., Rabb's boyfriend and the father of her children, who had reportedly been threatening the landlord in the weeks leading up to the murder.
Police arrested Cody roughly a week after the shooting at a motel in St. Louis County, where he was staying with Rabb and their children. During questioning, Cody admitted to firing at the truck and directed officers to the location of the weapon and the clothing he wore during the crime. Rabb was subsequently arrested and charged for her alleged role as the driver of the getaway car. Prosecutors argued that the couple had targeted Kelly in retaliation for the impending eviction, with the rental car used to stalk him to his place of business.
The legal proceedings culminated in May 2025, more than three years after the killing. A St. Louis jury found James Cody Jr. guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action, rejecting the more severe charge of first-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison. Deseray Rabb, who faced charges of accessory to first-degree murder and armed criminal action, was acquitted by the same jury. The verdict marked the end of a case that highlighted the deadly escalation of a property dispute, leaving the community to grapple with the senseless loss of a longtime local business owner.
