Double stabbing homicide suspect now in Barnstable Police custody… [NEW HN VIDEO & AUDIO]
Top photos: (left) Kelly Ridley; (right) Kelly Ridley’s “half” brother Stefan James being led out of Barnstable Superior Court on 9/29/16. The two are no strangers to local law enforcement…
HN NOTES: According to sources, Kelly Ridley, the prime suspect in the stabbing death of Thomas “Tee” Russell, was taken into custody yesterday at Cape Cod Hospital.
The following audio highlights Ridley’s arrest.
[Press play]
Ridley is expected to be arraigned tomorrow on charges relating the double stabbing and homicide which occurred in the early morning hours of 10/22/16 on Beth Lane in Hyannis.
Ridley was recently let out of jail wearing a GPS ankle bracelet monitoring device. According to sources, Ridley allegedly cut off the monitoring device and discarded it in the front yard of an address on Kilkore Drive near his residence, and just 5 blocks from Saturday morning’s homicide scene on Beth Lane.
As you will hear in the following HN video, Ridley was the prime suspect from the very beginning of the investigation.
[Press play… select HD in the settings]
Back on June 8th of this year, Kelly Ridley Jr., then age 18, of 90 Kilkore Drive in Hyannis, appeared in Falmouth District Court and pleaded not guilty to charges of Assault & Battery, Strangulation, 2 counts of A&B with a Dangerous Weapon, Resisting Arrest, and Disorderly Conduct.
Ridley was held pending a “dangerousness hearing” which was scheduled for June 10th, 2016…
According to sources and online reports, in the early morning hours of June 8th, 2016, Mashpee Police responded to reports of a fight in the street on Paddock Circle.
Upon arrival, officers reportedly observed several women who were bloodied. They also observed two men nearby. Stefan James reportedly then distracted officers while his brother Kelly Ridley fled on foot.
Ridley was Tasered and arrested after a foot pursuit.
Ridley and James had reportedly showed up uninvited to a house party. The brothers reportedly became violent when asked to leave, choking and hitting woman at the party.
One woman was reportedly taken to the hospital with a concussion.
Stefan James, Ridley’s 21-year-old “half” brother, was also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. James had also been under indictment by a Barnstable County Grand Jury for past cocaine charges. Back in January of this year, Yarmouth Police encountered James during a traffic stop. James was caught allegedly hiding 30 grams of coke in his buttocks, according to reports.
So, it’s safe to say, that both Kelly Ridley and his brother Stefan James are no strangers to local law enforcement.
HN actually met and spoke with Kelly Ridley back on September 29th when the above photo was taken of his brother being led out of Barnstable Superior Court ahead of recently sentenced Anthony Russ.
Ridley expressed he was not happy with local police, telling HN he thought they were dishonest.
There are many unanswered questions regarding Kelly Ridley and Saturday morning’s fatal stabbing. Perhaps the biggest question has to do with why Ridley, a suspect recently charged with several violent felonies, was allowed back out into our community. Ridley was reportedly wearing a GPS ankle bracelet monitoring device the night of the homicide, but why did the court feel it was safe for him to be back out on our streets in the first place, especially in light of recent allegations of dangerous violent behavior?
The following video gives insight into Ridley’s brother Stefan James’ demeanor when he was recently being led out of Barnstable Superior Court ahead of recently sentenced Anthony Russ on 9/29/2016. Is brother Stefan’s contemptuous attitude toward the justice system also shared by Ridley?
In the video, Anthony Russ directly addresses reporters and asks, “Some people are probably happy about this and call it justice, right?”
And as you will hear in the following video, Stefan James then speaks up and exclaims, “BULLSHIT…” not seeming to be satisfied with the justice system which recently set his brother free again, allowing Kelly Ridley back out onto our streets after allegations of felonious violence which sent one Cape woman to hospital…
[Press play… Select HD in the settings]
The reaction across social media has been mostly grief over the loss of fatal stabbing victim Tee Russell. But on Kelly Ridley’s Facebook page, reactions vary.
The first thing you notice when checking out Ridley’s Facebook page is that he chose to recently update his profile photo with an image of his brother Stefan James being led out of Barnstable Superior Court in shackles back on 9/29/2016.
The second thing you notice is that some of Ridley’s friends are making statements like “Free Kelly.” Comments reflecting sympathy toward Ridley have started arguments amongst several visitors to his page. Some of the conflicting comments are as follows:
[From Kelly Ridley’s Facebook page]
S.F. –
#FreeKelly head up kid Kelly
*****
M.P. –
#justiceforteezy
*****
S.F. –
In the end yes rest easy teezy but it was a mistake Free Kelly
*****
L.M. –
Mistake???? KELLY is a MURDERER [f###] outta here, his going to rot in hell not in jail cuz that’s to easy, God don’t like ugly let alone ” mistake “
*****
S.F. –
He protected himself in the end i dont care relentless to what he did he is a kid wasn’t thinking and made a mistake yea a mistake the nigga wasn’t thinking
*****
L.M. –
Luana Macedo Well I wanna smack a BITCH today, so if do I can just say it was a mistake after?!
The comments only descend further into insults and anger from that point onward.
Also note… according to sources, the second stabbing victim is actually Stefan James’ father, Michael James. (One source claims Ridley had been adopted by Michael James…) Details still haven’t been officially released, but Michael James was said to have stepped in stop the altercation involving his son’s half brother Kelly…
The following image shows Michael James, the second stabbing victim, being loaded into an ambulance Saturday morning. By all accounts, Michael James is expected to survive his wounds… but having said that, stab wounds are unpredictable. James was obviously in pain, but alert and able to communicate with first responders.
Fatal stabbing victim:
Thomas “Tee” Russell, age 26, of Hyannis has been identified as the fatal stabbing victim. According to his Facebook page, Tee attended Barnstable High School and studied Business Marketing at Atlanta Tech. Numerous friends and family expressed their grief and condolences on Tee’s Facebook Timeline throughout the day. This was a sudden and tragic loss for many… please keep Tee’s family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.
*It’s important to note that there was initially some misinformation regarding one of the images in this report. Thanks to HN sources and readers, that information was quickly corrected, confirmed, and updated within minutes. HN readers are the best! Thank you.
10/23/2016
Robert Bastille
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© 2016 Robert Bastille, HyannisNews.com
P.S. – Today’s HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Johnny Cash… [Press play]
