On June 30, 2015, the life of 22-year-old Kelsey K. Ewonus, a White female from Kansas City, Kansas, was tragically cut short. A graduate of Olathe East High School and a single mother to a one-year-old son, she was described by her brother as a smart and beautiful young woman with a gentle heart. Her body was discovered inside a parked car in a secluded area just west of State Line Road, a few blocks north of the University of Kansas Hospital.
Kelsey had been fatally shot.
The investigation into her death led police to Antoine Fielder, a 27-year-old man who was on parole for drug-related charges. In the days following the discovery of Kelsey’s body, Fielder was taken into custody. Wyandotte County prosecutors subsequently charged him with first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm in connection with Kelsey's death. His bail was set at $1 million.
Fielder's legal proceedings in the murder of Kelsey Ewonus were fraught with indecision. He was tried twice for her murder, but both trials ended with a hung jury, meaning the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. After the second mistrial, the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office dismissed the charges against him, and he was not convicted for her death.
Despite evading conviction for Kelsey's murder, Antoine Fielder's criminal activities continued. He was later charged and convicted for other violent crimes, including the murders of two Wyandotte County sheriff's deputies in June 2018. While Fielder was never found legally responsible for the death of Kelsey Ewonus, her family was left without a sense of closure in her case.
