OK - Woman found insane in death of her toddler in 2003, now victim of homicide in 2021

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Miami OK woman found insane in death of toddler, now victim of homicide


Posted: Nov 2, 2021 / 08:19 PM CDT / Updated: Nov 2, 2021 / 08:27 PM CDT

PICHER, Ok. – An Ottawa County woman, found insane in the 2003 drowning death of her 17-month-old son, was found dead, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Tuesday.

Tony Elizabeth Torres, 47, also known as Toni Elizabeth Moran, of Miami was found Monday in Picher.

“She appears to be a victim of a homicide,” said Brook Arbeitman, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation public information officer.

The manner of death or the weapon used wasn’t released, she said.

Torres’ toddler son, Alex, was found submerged in about 20 feet of water in Spring River, about four miles north of Twin Bridges State Park in northern Ottawa County on Aug. 21, 2003. Tony Torres was found on a riverbank, and her son Brandon Wayne McKibben, who was 10 at the time, was found sitting on an opposite side of the river screaming for help.

Brandon died Aug. 9, 2010 after being electrocuted.

According to Tony Torres’ statement to investigators, the toddler was clinging to her as she waded across the river. She pushed the child away to save herself, making no effort to save him from drowning.

In 2004, Torres was declared insane on a first-degree murder charge. Torres, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, confessed to authorities when she was arrested, “God told me to do it.”

Torres was allowed to leave a mental hospital in 2011 after it was ruled she was not a danger to society.

On a county intake sheet, filled out Aug. 23, 2003, the woman wrote: “God shed his blood for me. All they do is ask me, and I will tell them the truth, even if it sounds crazy. I won’t let people corrupt my spirit with the law. Amen.”

Under the space for a defendant’s name, she wrote: “God.” Under legal guardian, she wrote: “God.”
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Miami woman found insane in death of toddler, now victim of homicide | - FourStatesHomepage.com
 
Tony Elizabeth Torres, 47, also known as Toni Elizabeth Moran, of Miami was found Monday three miles north of Commerce in the Picher-Cardin area in rural Ottawa County, a victim of an apparent homicide.
...
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.
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Miami woman’s death remains under investigation | FourStatesHomepage.com
 
A romantic entanglement appears to be the motive behind the fatal shooting of an Ottawa County woman, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The body of Tony Elizabeth Torres, 47, also known as Toni Elizabeth Moran, of Miami, was found on Monday. Investigators found Moran’s body next to a pond down a gravel drive three miles north of Commerce.

Jimmy Gene Kelly Jr. 51, is being held on a federal complaint of Murder in the first-degree, in Indian Country and by causing death by using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

His wife, 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. She has denied being at the crime scene or shooting Moran.

An informant provided an audio recording to investigators in which Jimmy Kelly can be heard saying he shot Moran in the head and concealed the body near water and Charlene also shot Moran.

However, Jimmy Kelly told investigators he was having a “relationship” with Moran that caused his wife, Charlene to become jealous and he had “arranged a confrontation” between both women.

During the confrontation, Moran said she “would be better off dead” so Jimmy Kelly handed her a loaded and cocked revolver and Moran shot herself in the head.

Jimmy Kelly was “so upset with Moran that she shot herself that he picked up the revolver and shot Moran the second time into Moran’s torso”; Moran’s body was then dragged off the road by Jimmy Kelly in an attempt to conceal it, the complaint states.

Jimmy Kelly returned to the crime scene twice – to retrieve Moran’s cell phone – and the second time to pour gasoline over Moran’s body and set Moran’s body on fire. But the suspect could not find Moran’s body, so he dumped the bucket of gasoline and threw out the bucket, the complaint states.

Jimmy Gene Kelly, formerly 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.
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Extramarital relationship may be behind the fatal shooting of a Miami woman shot twice | - FourStatesHomepage.com
 
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Ottawa County District Judge Robert Haney signed an order on Wednesday allowing Tony Elizabeth Torres, 36, to attend funeral activities associated with the death of her 17-year-old son Brandon Wayne McKibben.

McKibben died Monday at a private residence, said Quapaw Police Chief Gary Graham. He had been under a house working on plumbing when he was electrocuted, he said.

Incarcerated woman to attend son's funeral
 
Jimmy Kelly was released from federal prison in July 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.

He was 22 when he was sentenced in 1992 to a 30-year federal prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in the Ottawa County slaying of Vernon C. Moyer Jr., 31.

Kelly told a jury at his trial that he lured Moyer to a remote area north of Miami in 1991 under the guise of a fishing trip, only to choke and beat him to death with a bumper jack.
Man who served prison sentence for murder now faces murder charge again
 
Jimmy Kelly was released from federal prison in July 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.

He was 22 when he was sentenced in 1992 to a 30-year federal prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in the Ottawa County slaying of Vernon C. Moyer Jr., 31.

Kelly told a jury at his trial that he lured Moyer to a remote area north of Miami in 1991 under the guise of a fishing trip, only to choke and beat him to death with a bumper jack.
Man who served prison sentence for murder now faces murder charge again
Jimmy Kelly graphically described how he choked and fatally beat Vernon Moyer with tire tools after luring him to a remote fishing hole just south of the Kansas border in northeastern Oklahoma.

As Moyer reached for his fishing pole, Kelly grabbed Moyer's throat and threw him to the ground, Kelly testified.

Kelly said he clubbed Moyer several times with a tire tool from his truck, then grabbed a 3-foot-long bumper jack and hit Moyer in the throat.

Kelly called himself "ruthless. " "We all know Jimmy is a murderer," Kelly's attorney, Steve Gruebel, told jurors Tuesday. "He knows that. The question is, was it first-degree or second-degree murder, and that hinges on his mental state and whether he intended to kill that man. " Gruebel said Kelly was a diagnosed sociopath who did not plan the killing.

Jury to Decide on Intent In Picher Bludgeoning Case
 
Accused Ottawa County killer ordered back to court in January

MIAMI, Okla. – An Ottawa County woman charged in connection to the death of a Miami woman was ordered Monday to return to court in January with an attorney.

Charlana Nichelle Kelly, 52, appeared in Ottawa County District Court. She is charged with assessory to murder in the death of Toni Elizabeth Moran, 47, also known as Tony Elizabeth Torres.

Also federally charged with murder Moran’s death is Jimmy Gene Kelly Jr., 51, also of Miami.

Charlana Kelly was ordered to retain a lawyer and return to court Jan. 10. She is free on a reduced bail of $25,000 with orders from Special Judge Becky Baird not to have any contact with Jimmy Kelly, her husband.

The husband and wife are accused of shooting Moran twice, once in the head and once in the torso, according to a complaint filed in Jimmy Kelly’s federal case.

Floyd McKibben, Moran’s brother, told investigators Moran and Jimmy Kelly were messaging each other and Kelly was supposed to pick up Moran on Oct. 31, the complaint states.

An informant provided an audio recording to investigators where Jimmy Kelly can be heard saying he shot Moran in the head and concealed the body near water and Charlene also shot Moran, the complaint states.

Jimmy Kelly’s federal trial is set for Jan. 18, however Kelly’s attorneys are using Moran’s mental health issues for additional time to prepare their case, court records show.

Several issues range from Moran’s suicidal tendencies to the drowning death of her child, court records show.
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Timeline
1991 - Jimmy Kelly murders Picher man, nearly decapitating him.
1992 - Sentenced to 30 years for the crime.
2003 - Toni McKibben Torres drowns toddler son in Spring River near Miami.
2004 - Declared insane and incarcerated.
2010 - Older son Brandon, who was present at drowning of brother, electrocuted.
2011 - Torres released to halfway house and subsequently freed.
2021 - Jimmy Kelly released from prison in July. With wife, allegedly murders Torres in November.
 

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