Texas woman alleges Wyandotte County DA used influence for family’s benefit

Jalelisa Jeffery, right, is attempting to regain custody of her 9-year-old daughter, she told reporters at a Sept. 9, 2024, news conference at the Statehouse in Topeka. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — A new court filing accuses the Wyandotte County district attorney of using his position to benefit his nephew in a custody dispute connected to an upcoming murder trial.

In a motion for temporary custody and child support filed Monday in Wyandotte County District Court, Jalelisa Jeffery paints a picture of cover-ups that resulted in her losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter in 2017. The daughter’s father, Glen Blount Jr., is the Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree’s nephew, according to court documents.

Both Blount and Jeffery are potential witnesses in the upcoming murder trial of Dupree’s other nephew, Billy Dupree, who was charged in 2023 with first-degree murder in the 2014 death of Deleisha Kelley, who was 16 years old. The Kansas Attorney General’s office is prosecuting the case.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on Jeffery’s allegations.

Jeffery, whose efforts are supported by retired defense attorney Sarah Swain and criminal rights consultant Brian Betts, traveled Monday from her current home in Garland, Texas, to the Kansas Statehouse to tell her story in a news conference. Jeffery is a former resident of Kansas City, Kansas.

“I just want my daughter home. I just want it to be over,” Jeffery told reporters before crying into Swain’s arms.

Swain provided Kansas Reflector with a date-stamped copy of Jeffery’s custody motion after it was filed with the Wyandotte County District Court clerk.

Swain said at the news conference that Kelley’s and Jeffery’s cases have been enveloped in confusion. She said authorities involved in the investigation into Kelley’s murder were “bad apples.”

Betts, a man who served 25 years in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit, also appeared at the news conference. Betts recently formed ELITE Legal Services, a company tailored toward people who have struggled to find help from the legal system and legal professionals. Since his release, Betts has campaigned to fire Dupree, who fought against Betts’ parole. Dupree, a Democrat who has held the office since 2017, is running unopposed for reelection.

In a letter hand-delivered Monday to the attorney general’s office, Betts questioned the length of time it took to bring charges in Kelley’s murder and called for federal investigations into the case and the agencies involved in solving it.

A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office, Danedri Herbert, said the office doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation, and the agreement for the office to prosecute Billy Dupree’s case predates Attorney General Kris Kobach’s administration.

Corrections: Brian Betts was paroled after 25 years in prison. A previous version of this story included an inaccurate reference to the status of his case. Deleisha Kelley’s name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this story.