MIAMI, Okla. – An Ottawa County couple is in custody in connection to the death of a Miami woman, Miami Police Chief Gary Anderson said Friday.
Charlene Nichelle Kelly, 52, of Miami is being held in the Ottawa County jail on $100,000 bail on a complaint of accessory to murder after the fact. Jimmy Gene Kelly, 51, was being held in the Mayes County jail and released to federal agents on Thursday, the Mayes County Sheriff’s office confirmed.
An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation press release states Jimmy Kelly is in federal custody on charges of murder in Indian Country and using a firearm to commit a violent act.
Anderson said they were in custody in connection to the death of Tony Elizabeth Torres, 47, also known as Ton Elizabeth Moran, of Miami. Her body was found Monday three miles north of Commerce in the Picher-Cardin area in rural Ottawa County.
Jimmy Gene Kelly, formally of Picher, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1991 in the death of Vernon C. Moyer.
Testimony showed Kelly beat Moyer with tire tools and nearly decapitated the Picher man.
The manner of death or the weapon used in Moran’s death has not been released. The Oklahoma Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death.
Online court records show Moran had several outstanding warrants for misdemeanor drug violations, felony third-degree burglary, assault and battery, and endangering while eluding or attempting to elude a police officer.
Using the name Tony Torres, she was found insane in the 2003 drowning death of her 17-month-old son, Alex. Torres was allowed to leave a mental hospital in 2011, after it was ruled, she was not a danger to society.
