Final defendants in 2023 murder at abandoned Boysville facility sentenced to prison

David Panian, The Monroe News
·4 min read

MONROE — Two final defendants involved in the murder of a young mother in February 2023 at an abandoned juvenile detention facility in Frenchtown Township learned their fates Thursday.

Brin David Westley Smith, 21, of Monroe and Kaylyn Marie Ramsey, 34, of Wakeman, Ohio, in April pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Kayla Marie Sedoskey of Monroe. The plea agreements called for minimum prison sentences of 40 years. Monroe County Circuit Judge Daniel S. White on Thursday sentenced each of them to 40 to 60 years in prison.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated like a guilty plea for sentencing.

A photo of Kayla Sedoskey is displayed while her mother, younger sister and the father of her young son gave victim impact statements May 23 in 38th Circuit Court in Monroe during the sentencings of four of the six people involved in murdering Sedoskey in 2023. The last two defendants were sentenced Thursday.
A photo of Kayla Sedoskey is displayed while her mother, younger sister and the father of her young son gave victim impact statements May 23 in 38th Circuit Court in Monroe during the sentencings of four of the six people involved in murdering Sedoskey in 2023. The last two defendants were sentenced Thursday.

Sedoskey's murder is "one of the most despicable crimes in the history of Monroe County," Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffrey Yorkey said in a news release Thursday. The investigation narrowed the time of her death to sometime between 10 p.m. Feb. 15 and 12:30 a.m. Feb. 16, 2023.

Sedoskey's body was found wrapped in a tarp at the abandoned Boysville facility on March 2, 2023, by high school students exploring the facility. She had been shot three times, with one at point-blank range to the top of her head, Yorkey said.

Ramsey and Smith's four co-defendants were sentenced last week. Steven Douglas Bails Jr., 45, of Frenchtown Township was convicted by a jury in March of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on the first-degree murder charge and life with the possibility of parole on the conspiracy charge.

Narena Picola Bails, 25, received a 13.5- to 30-year prison term. She pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.

Sierra Nicole Bemis, 24, also pleaded no contest to second-degree murder. White sentenced her to 18 years and 9 months to 30 years in prison.

Alexander Robert Feko, 27, of Detroit Beach pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and three counts of accessory after the fact to a felony. White sentenced him to 5 to 10 years in prison on the evidence tampering charge and 3 years and 2 months to 5 years on each of the accessory charges. The terms will run concurrently.

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White described Steven Bails as the leader of the "ridiculous" scheme to kill Sedoskey. Bails and Sedoskey had a romantic relationship at one time, and all seven of had been roommates. The reason for the killing remains unclear, Yorkey said, but evidence suggests that it could have been a “wedding present” for Narena Bails from Steven Bails or simply a revenge killing for words exchanged between Ramsey and Sedoskey. The Michigan State Police said previously that the suspects conspired to kill Sedoskey over multiple disagreements that they had with her.

Steven Bails and the former Narena Cherry received a marriage license from the Monroe County Clerk's Office in February 2023.

The investigation and pleas of the defendants revealed that Sedoskey was lured into Boysville by Smith, who pretended to have romantic feelings for her, Yorkey said. Once there, Sedoskey was attacked by her killers. Investigators are not certain who pulled the trigger, but the investigation suggests that Steven Bails, Smith and Ramsey were present when she was killed.

The investigation revealed that Narena Bails listened to a police scanner at the suspects’ apartment and was supposed to notify them if the police were responding to Boysville, the Michigan State Police previously said. The day after the homicide, Steven Bails, Smith, Ramsey and Bemis went back to Boysville to hide Sedoskey’s body and to cover it with fragrances as a way to hide the smell of decay.

The Bailses and Smith fled the state after Sedoskey’s body was located, state police said. The Bailses were arrested in North Carolina in April 2023 after a several-hour standoff with the U.S. Marshals Service. Smith was caught in Ohio.

Sedoskey’s mother, younger sister and her son’s father all made statements at sentencing, Yorkey said.

Yorkey thanked the team of law enforcement officials from the Michigan State Police and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office along with the Michigan State Crime Lab that investigated the crime. Detective Sgt. Michael Peterson of the Monroe Post of the Michigan 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, Ragan Lake and Alexis Hatch. Victim rights specialist Alana Horkey provided comfort to Sedoskey's family, Yorkey said.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: 2 defendants in 2023 murder at abandoned Boysville facility sentenced