Nellis airman, suspect in her death had dated for years, report says
Nellis Air Force Base Master Sgt. Danielle Lynch lay in the bar parking lot unresponsive — eyes wide open — as the suspect in her assault climbed into his Cadillac and drove away, according to a newly released arrest report.
He did not call 911.
Lynch, who would have celebrated her 40th birthday on Tuesday, died of blunt force head trauma on July 8, following a nearly two-week hospitalization. In the assault, the report states, she suffered a skull fracture and a brain bleed.
The suspect in her death has been identified by authorities as 42-year-old Terrance Levell Kelly, a decorated Air Force veteran who, at the time of the assault, was working a contract job at the base, according to the report.
Kelly’s arrest report, which was released Tuesday, revealed new details about his relationship with Lynch. According to the document, the two had been dating “off and on again” since 2007.
In an interview the morning after the assault, Kelly, who eventually called 911 to turn himself in, told investigators that their relationship was “not exclusive.”
Witnesses of the June 26 assault, which occurred in the parking lot of the PT’s Gold at 7550 Oso Blanca Road, told detectives they had overheard Kelly and Lynch arguing outside the bar.
During the argument, the report states, Lynch repeatedly yelled “something about ‘15 years’ and ‘I’m done with you’” as she threw small rocks at the suspect’s car.
While Lynch picked up another small rock, according to witnesses and footage captured by the bar’s exterior security cameras, the suspect sprinted through the parking lot and tackled her.
Kelly stayed just one minute after Lynch hit her head, the report states, and was gone by the time officers arrived. Outside the bar, officers found Lynch surrounded by several witnesses.
“Danielle’s eyes were open and she was breathing heavily, but she did not respond to officers,” detectives wrote in the report.
Around 5:30 the next morning, after Kelly was taken into custody, he told detectives that he pushed Lynch and she fell to the ground, causing her to hit her head.
But when confronted with the surveillance video, according to the report, Kelly “changed his story that he could have been running and hit her with more force than he realized.”
Kelly, who posted bail shortly after his interview, according to court records, initially faced one count of domestic battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. The charge was upgraded to murder the day after Lynch died, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said Kelly is awaiting extradition to Clark County from Florida, where he was arrested. Further details regarding his arrest were not immediately available.
According to an Air Force spokesperson, Kelly was discharged from service in 2017. He was last stationed at Nellis Air Force Base with Lynch, a single mother to 15-year-old twins who joined the Air Force in June 2002.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.