Man wanted in Las Vegas murder arrested in Michigan

A 33-year old man wanted in connection with a 2020 murder and other serious crimes in Las Vegas is now in the Clark County Detention Center, three months after his arrest during a traffic stop in Michigan.

Brian Jamare Kelly was arrested in Las Vegas on Friday and booked into jail on suspicion of murder and a slew of other charges, jail records show.

Kelly had been wanted via a bench warrant since he failed to show up in District Court on June 3, 2021, when his lawyer Anthony Goldstein informed the court about having had “no idea where he was,” according to court records.

Kelly faces charges of murder, first degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery, harboring a felony offender, destroying or concealing evidence, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, possession to sell Schedule I or II drugs and violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, according to jail records.

He and defendants Jonathan (aka Demetrius) Coleman, Christopher Robinson and Mahogany Austin were indicted on murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges in the death of Bryan O’Neal, who was shot to death and his body moved after the defendants allegedly “lured” him to their Las Vegas apartment, based on a superseding indictment filed May 26, 2021.

On Nov. 3, 2020, Coleman and Austin allegedly requested O’Neal, 55, to go to their residence to buy some marijuana he was selling, but ended up shooting and killing him, robbing him, wrapping his body and placing it in the backseat of the truck O’Neal’s drove over in, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

O’Neal’s body was found in his truck after it had been taken to a towing yard in North Las Vegas. Police used GPS to trace the location of the truck, and surveillance footage from apartment complex residents that showed three people carrying a body.

Coleman and Austin were later arrested on suspicion of unrelated charges later that month by authorities in Georgia. Austin was extradited and booked into jail in Las Vegas that December.

Kelly is set to appear in Justice Court on Sunday on the harboring, grand larceny, illegal drug sales and Uniform Controlled Substances Act allegations, based on jail records.

His arrest warrant documents were received in Justice Court on Saturday and court records show an arrest warrant return hearing is also set for Sunday.

According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Kelly was taken into custody by police in the city of East Jordan, Mich., during a routine traffic violation stop on May 8.

When police ran his vehicle license number for warrants, they discovered he was wanted in Las Vegas for murder, according to UpNorthLive News in Traverse City.

Kelly was arraigned on May 11 in Charlevoix County court and held without bond for extradition proceedings to Clark County, according to the Record-Eagle.

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on X. Review-Journal digital content editor Tony Garcia contributed to this story.