The Unsolved Murder of David Kelm | Part 1 of 2

The Unsolved Murder of David Kelm | Part 1 of 2 | Tuesday September 13, 2022
The Unsolved Murder of David Kelm | Part 2 of 2 | Tuesday September 13, 2022

46 year old David Kelm was shot in his own home in the Masterson Station area of Lexington Kentucky on April 23, 2019, and died of his injuries at the University of Kentucky Hospital that same evening.
Years and 6 newly assigned homicide detectives later, his family has no answers, and no justice.

Join Wendy and David as we talk to talk to his mother, Jessica Profitt, and sister, Rachel Romero, about who David is, and how their lives changed forever that night.  Learn about David growing up, the things in life he enjoyed and where he was in life when it was taken by evil.

You will walk away from these 2 episodes as perplexed as his family and friends, asking how a man is killed in his own home, and why no one has been brought to justice.
Know that these episodes are very emotional, as Jessica and Rachael recount how they learned David died.

And just as importantly, please share these episodes far and wide with everyone you know.  It is our hope that David’s name goes remembered, and someone comes forward with information to close this case.

David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!

This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.

http://truecrimeconsequences.com/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q

Do you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.

See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Transcript

Rachel Romero:
At one point, our lead detective took me out on the rooftop and he was standing there with two other detectives. I was like, what is going on? I didn't know but then when I looked up and he was, had his arm crossed with the left hand over the top of the right arm, I did not want to hear what he had to say.
Wendy Lyons:
Warning, the podcast you're about to listen to may contain graphic descriptions of violent assaults, murder, and adult language. Listener discretion is advised.
Wendy Lyons:
Welcome to the Murder Police podcast. The unsolved murder of David Kelm, part one of two.
Welcome to the Murder Police podcast. I am Wendy.
David Lyons:
And I'm David.
Wendy Lyons:
Today we are going to be discussing the April 23rd, 2019 murder of David Kelm in Lexington, Kentucky. We have with us today David's sister, Rachel and David's mother, Jessica. Rachel, thank you for coming. How are you doing today?
Rachel Romero:
I'm good, Wendy. Thank you and David for having me.
Wendy Lyons:
You are most welcome. Jessica, thank you for coming. How are you today?
Jessica Profitt:
I'm doing good, thank you. Thank you and David both for having me.
Wendy Lyons:
Absolutely. This is a case that we're happy to discuss and get into and share with people David's story and subsequently David's murder. It is unsolved still to this date so I think all of our common goal is to find a lead to maybe help solve this murder.
David Lyons:
That and to memorialize David. We appreciate the opportunity to let people know who David is through your eyes and family so because in this whole process that gets lost. The hope again is to maybe budge the case and get somebody held accountable for it, but even in the criminal justice system, when you start to get some relief from having that, it'll still scoot past who David is. This is an opportunity to really let people know who David is.
Wendy Lyons:
Well, I agree. Well, why don't we have one of the two of you or both to chime in and tell us, I guess Jessica, we should start with you, you're his mother. Tell us David as a little David. When he was a child growing up, what kind of baby he was. Just tell us a little bit about him so our listeners can learn who he was.
Jessica Profitt:
Okay. He was my first blessing in life. He was born January the 11th, 1973, all nine pounds and five ounces in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When he was born, he was a thumb sucker. When they'd bring the babies down to feed, I could hear him sucking his thumb and he sucked his thumb til he was about eight and we had to get some hot sauce or something to put on his finger and finally, but he didn't have to have braces, but he was a good baby. He was a big baby. He ate well, he played well by himself and he loved his baby sister when she came along three years later and they had a bond from day one and they did till the day we lost him.
David Lyons:
How long were you in labor with David? Did he make you wait?
Jessica Profitt:
Oh, Lord. It was induced, 13 hours.
David Lyons:
Oh my. What's that comedian say? One time that there's things that feel good that I want to do for four hours so yeah, went a long time. I was just curious if he made you work for it and I guess he did.
Jessica Profitt:
Oh yeah, he did. His dad was standing there and he had a magazine and he said, look at this, this is funny. I go, don't show me that again. I told him, the doctor, I said, gosh, that hurt. She goes, well, we didn't know you were going to have a football player. Oh, yeah, he loved his sister. He was real protective of Rachel. They had a bond that nobody could break even in death.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah, he was just a great big brother.
David Lyons:
What's your earliest memory of David? Can you think back that far?
Rachel Romero:
I remember when he fell out of the tree in the front yard and broke his leg.
Wendy Lyons:
How old was he?
Rachel Romero:
He was eight, yeah, he was eight.
Jessica Profitt:
He was climbing in the tree and I went to the front door and it was a little tree, but he was high up in the tree. I said, you get out of that tree before you break your leg. I turned around and this blood curdling scream, I thought he was hit by a Mac truck and he fell and broke his leg.
David Lyons:
What part of his leg broke and how bad was it?
Jessica Profitt:
It was the left leg. He had to have a cast. I had to take him to the emergency room, but it wasn't a compound fracture. He screamed because they had to set it.
Rachel Romero:
My dad liked to draw so he drew a Darth Vader on his cast. I remember that.
Jessica Profitt:
And Mickey Mouse.
Rachel Romero:
Mickey Mouse on mine. I had to have a...
Jessica Profitt:
Correction.
Rachel Romero:
Cast on my leg for...
Jessica Profitt:
She was pigeon toed.
David Lyons:
Do they still call it that?
Jessica Profitt:
Yeah. She had a foot, well, she gets it from me because I have it. They say it comes from Native American. They were all pigeon toed.
Rachel Romero:
Anyway, I remember my dad drawing Darth Vader on Davey's cast and then Mickey Mouse on mine. We actually kept the cast for a long time. Davey was kind of, he didn't really want me to, we loved each other, he didn't really want to be bothered with me though.
Jessica Profitt:
He played a lot by himself. He liked Tonka trucks. I said, do you really like those trucks? He goes, yeah. He said, I like those trucks. I said, oh, okay. You're going to be a cement truck driver? He said, no, I'm going to be the truck.
David Lyons:
Oh, wow, yeah. Life goals.
Jessica Profitt:
You've got to have them.
Rachel Romero:
I remember Halloween, he was probably seven, seven maybe and he dressed up as Popeye and I was at gypsy.
Jessica Profitt:
He loved Popeye.
Rachel Romero:
I remember that. We had a dog, Bojo, that was in Michigan. I use to run away a lot. I'd climb the fence and run down the street to a lake that was close by our house. Davey fell in the ice, didn't he? Behind the house, the pond.
David Lyons:
How old were you when you'd run away? Five?
Jessica Profitt:
No, she was younger than that. Probably about three.
Wendy Lyons:
Where were you going?
Jessica Profitt:
To the lake.
Rachel Romero:
To the lake.
Jessica Profitt:
She went down to the lake. What was so bad, her timing. There was a child serial kidnapper/murderer. Well, I couldn't find her and something told me to go to the lake and there she was with a little stick drawing in the sand and swinging.
Rachel Romero:
And Bojo.
Jessica Profitt:
And Bojo.
Rachel Romero:
The dog.
David Lyons:
No fear.
Jessica Profitt:
Yeah, she would run away.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah, so I kind of just follow Davey. I remember we were on the swing set and they kept saying, say a cuss word. They wanted me to cuss. Of course, they wouldn't so I said the cuss word and then I got in trouble.
Jessica Profitt:
The bar of soap.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah.
David Lyons:
We used to do that with my youngest brother. We would send him into my mother loaded with foul language and he didn't know what it meant just to watch the explosion when he would do it so it was like-
Rachel Romero:
To watch him get in trouble, yeah.
David Lyons:
Oh, for sure.
Jessica Profitt:
One time Davey got real upset with me because I had just gotten Rachel a little tricycle and she left it behind the car and I backed out and ran over it. Oh, he was so angry. You just bought that for her. She didn't care.
Wendy Lyons:
She had a lake to go to.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah, right.
Jessica Profitt:
Exactly.
Wendy Lyons:
How long were you all in Michigan before you came to Kentucky and what brought you all here?
Jessica Profitt:
The economy was that and I was a hairdresser, cosmetologist, stylist, whatever they want to call me. I came to Kentucky to take a test to be a cosmetology. I had relatives here. My dad was from Breathitt County and my mother was from Rowan County so I had a lot of relatives down here. I brought Rachel and Davey with me. He was seven and Rachel was four and I met Michael's dad.
Wendy Lyons:
Tell our listeners who Michael is.
Jessica Profitt:
Michael is my youngest son. His dad was from Kentucky and we were married 17 years. I have eight biological grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
David Lyons:
How old is your great-granddaughter?
Jessica Profitt:
She was a year old in June.
David Lyons:
Well, you talked about how he played with the trucks and wanted to be the truck. What other things did he do when he was little as he grew up? Did he start to get any sports or any hobbies or anything?
Jessica Profitt:
He didn't really like sports. I put him in little league baseball and that didn't last very long.
David Lyons:
Just didn't have an interest in it?
Jessica Profitt:
No, he didn't.
Rachel Romero:
He also got into karate.
Jessica Profitt:
Karate, he was good in that. At Sin The' that used to be in Lexington.
Rachel Romero:
Sin The', martial arts.
David Lyons:
How about school when you got to Lexington? What schools were he at?
Jessica Profitt:
Nicholasville we came too.
David Lyons:
Oh, that's right.
Jessica Profitt:
Yeah. He did well in school. He was good and he met his high school sweetheart there, Angela Owens. They had my two first grandsons together and they were together 16 or 17 years, but we always stayed very good friends with Angela.
David Lyons:
Well, that's an interesting part about this too, that we need to let everybody know what that connection is that Angie is, Wendy knows her, lost her life in February in Nicholasville to domestic violence. We have a few episodes to memorialize Angie and that violent death that she went through. Just to tie this together as we're sitting in a room with people that were related and in court that was the high school sweetheart. It's just never ceases to amaze me how there's a connection between people sometimes.
Wendy Lyons:
Ironically, Angie and I, as I said on that podcast we did about her, we worked at Long John's corporate office and that's where years ago I met Jessica and Rachel. We had initially met back in, I guess, '91, '92. Of course, Angie and I remained friends and then Angie and David years later did divorce. It's so funny how I lost contact with Rachel and Jessica and then maybe a little before David died, we got brought back together on Facebook and then friended each other like you do and caught up and I guess the rest is history so they say.
The three of us would often talk about the relationship that Angie was in with her new husband and how we all knew it was a very volatile, not good relationship. Then them losing David and how that affected all of them. Angie came back to you all at David's death. There was a little bit of a reunion wasn't there?
Jessica Profitt:
Yes, absolutely.
Wendy Lyons:
For that month and a half before that got abruptly cut short. It was really neat to bring you all back together because you all had also lost contact with her for years.
Jessica Profitt:
Yes, that's true.
David Lyons:
I still remember in the wake of David's death when I was just being made aware of it is that Angie came to the house one night.
Wendy Lyons:
Well, she called early in the morning crying, saying David's been killed. She saw it. Then I think she reached out to maybe Rachel, because I was getting ready to get my son ready for school and she never would call that early. When the phone's ringing at six, you know something's not right. She was bawling. I remember asking you, is there anything that you can find out about this because at that time, I believe you might have been over that unit or maybe you were a commander over another sector.
Then she did come over, you're right. We sat down and talked about what could be done and how we could solve this and ways that we could all pitch together because even though I hadn't seen David in all those years, we kind of all grew up in those late teen, early twenties with she and I being friends and with the birth of their two sons and their wedding and helping her plan, all that and the baby showers. There were great memories with David there as well and so it didn't affect me obviously like it affected those of you who he's your son, but there was still that pain in knowing what you all were going through and because I did know him and because Angie, despite being divorced from him for all those years, she was beside herself because they were just truly high school sweethearts, weren't they?
Jessica Profitt:
Yes, absolutely. David, I remember talking to you first and in our conversation you said, or I told you I was David's mother and you said, I can't wait to tell my wife that I know you and you were David's mother and we talked for a long time.
David Lyons:
We did. Again, there's that circle of how these connections end up.
Rachel Romero:
Mom said, oh my gosh, Rachel, David, when I talked to David, his wife is Wendy and that was Angie's best friend. We had lunch with her at Long John's in the corporate office. I was like, no way. I do remember that call. Angie was one of the ones that I first called when I found out about Davey. It was like four in the morning, but I just thinking about my nephews and I was like, I'm calling her. She took it like the rest of us. She was upset.
Wendy Lyons:
Yes, she was hysterical.
David Lyons:
When she came over one night and we sat up in the kitchen, she had a notebook and pages of notes. I think really it was cathartic for her to bounce those things off, stuff that we've all talked about since then, too. For me to watch that for somebody that had been divorced as long as they had been, it struck her and struck her hard. Well, let's kind of pick it up a little bit then is that he marries and how long were they married again?
Jessica Profitt:
About 17 years.
David Lyons:
Wow, long time.
Wendy Lyons:
Unfortunately, Angie and David did divorce. The boys were young. I think the youngest was seven, eight months when they separated and the oldest was roughly three-ish. Angie moved on and remarried. What happened to David at that point because I kind of lost track of him then. I know initially there was a little bit of time sharing with the boys. I think a lot of it Rachel was organized at your house. Where did David, where did his life go after they separated?
Rachel Romero:
Yes, Davey ended up remarrying. He worked at UPS since he was 17. He also worked part-time at Green's Toyota in the parts department. He met a lady there who he later, he remarried and they had a son together, my nephew, one of my nephews. Then they just had their life. They were married for 17 years.
Wendy Lyons:
David goes ahead and remarries, has another child. I do recall he and Angie initially, before he had that child, shared custody for a little bit. I think some of those transactions you helped organize.
Rachel Romero:
Oh, yes. Davey and the boys would come and stay at my house on every other weekend. I looked forward to it. It was so fun. I mean, I got to spend time with my nephews and my brother. At the time my little brother lived with me so it was the whole package right there. Yeah, we spent a lot of time together.
Wendy Lyons:
Then eventually those visits kind of tapered off I think?
Rachel Romero:
Yes, they did.
David Lyons:
Well as an adult, did he have any other hobbies? You talked about how he worked at UPS and Green's Toyota. Did he engage in any other hobbies or interest as an adult?
Rachel Romero:
Oh, he's always loved music. He plays the guitar and he can play the acoustic and electric guitar. He, I guess comes by that naturally. Our dad's side of the family, back to my grandpa's grandpa have an ear for music and a talent. He enjoyed all music. Of course, we were raised on Hank Williams Jr., Elvis, motown, all that.
David Lyons:
When music was music.
Rachel Romero:
Being kids of the nineties, eighties, nineties, we liked all the classic rock. He enjoyed music. He liked to work on things, cars.
Jessica Profitt:
He was a perfectionist.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah, he was.
Jessica Profitt:
Any little thing in the house. If there was a mark, he would repaint the whole wall.
Rachel Romero:
He also was into landscaping. We actually worked for a company, the Gardener of Lexington. It's not in business anymore, but he enjoyed his lawn and landscape being perfect and he'd come over and do mine. He also liked crime TV. He always liked the case, Crystal Rogers case was going on and he would call mom and was like, oh my gosh, did you see this new part of the show? He's like, you know he did it. Just going crazy about it. He enjoyed that. He remodeled his house. He put in tile floors and he stayed busy. He was one that he didn't sit still. He was like, my little brother. They don't sit still.
Wendy Lyons:
He goes through this marriage and he's married for a while. Then they had some rocky issues and separated. Then they were estranged when David was murdered, is that right? They were not together at that point?
Rachel Romero:
No, they were not.
Wendy Lyons:
Okay, so on this night leading up to this April 23rd, 2019, how did you all find out about it? How'd you learn of it?
Rachel Romero:
Well, Landon and I were actually just getting in bed and there was a knock at the door and I thought it was wrong house so I didn't open the door. Then they come to the back and they were banging and I seen flashlights and I was like, what is going on? I opened the door and it was an officer. He had my nephew with him, my youngest nephew. I didn't know what was going on. Figured my brother was at work still for him to show up in the police car or I didn't know what happened, what was going on. The officer asked me if I could keep my nephew.
Wendy Lyons:
This is David's youngest son with his new wife, right?
Rachel Romero:
Yes. I kind of was still in shock. I didn't know why. I said, what's going on? He said, well, we cannot reach his mother. We have tried to reach out to the mother, she's nowhere to be found so we didn't know what was up with her. I didn't know what was going on so he had to stay with me.
Wendy Lyons:
Did the officer tell you at that point what was going on?
Rachel Romero:
No, just that he needed to stay with me. That he couldn't reach his mother so I said, okay. Then the officer quickly came back and told me that, yeah, he came back and told me that I needed to follow him to the police station and bring my nephew because he had to have an adult with him. He was there.
Wendy Lyons:
He was there when the murder happened?
Rachel Romero:
Yes. I was like, what are we doing? The officer said, your brother's been shot. He's on his way to the hospital. We need you to bring your nephew to the police station and so we did. He followed us to the police.
Jessica Profitt:
You brought Landon to my apartment.
Rachel Romero:
Yeah, I had to.
Jessica Profitt:
I go, what's going on? She goes, mom, Davey's been shot. We always called him Davey. I know you probably picked up on that. I did, I gave him that name. I go, shot? I'm thinking he works for a United Parcel so maybe there was a robbery in his truck and it's not going to be so bad.
David Lyons:
It launches you into those questions because you're trying to figure out, I'm trying to put myself in your shoes where the police show up. They've got a relative there that then they asked you to follow down and then they finally tell you that you'd been shot and was going to the hospital and the imagination just has to go wild.
Wendy Lyons:
About what time of evening was it, Rachel?
Rachel Romero:
This was about 10:00, maybe something a little bit to 10:00. Of course, I'm sure he had to tell me a couple times that he got shot because I'm looking around for my shoes and I can't find them and they're right by the door. I was so upset. I mean, I couldn't believe. All I kept hearing in my mind was your brother is shot, your brother just got shot, your brother just got shot.
Wendy Lyons:
You didn't know his condition at that time? You just knew he had been shot and you were going to the police station?
Rachel Romero:
Yes. I wanted to go to the hospital to be with my brother to find out what's going on but circumstance, I had to take my nephew. If been able to get ahold of his mother, I could have went to the hospital and be with my brother in his last minutes.
Wendy Lyons:
Jessica, did you go with Rachel or did you meet her there?
Jessica Profitt:
Rachel brought her son to my apartment so she could go with my grandson that was there at the murder.
David Lyons:
Even if they just were having a conversation, that's the crux of it is having an adult when they are under 18.
Jessica Profitt:
He was a minor, yeah.
David Lyons:
That's pretty important.
Jessica Profitt:
Or juvenile they said.
David Lyons:
Yeah, and there it is. The needs of the system stepped in front of what you would've liked to do and assist or which, but I'm sorry that you even went through that is that that's where these things collide, kind of like we headed to before.
Jessica Profitt:
Right.
Wendy Lyons:
When did you get into the story of what happened? When you got to the police station, did they give you details of how this night unfolded?
Rachel Romero:
No. I was kind of learning as being in the questioning room what-
Wendy Lyons:
Had you asked your nephew as you were driving what was going on?
Rachel Romero:
Yes, I did ask him. I said, what is going on? What happened? He said, daddy got shot. I mean we both, he was in shock, I was in shock. At one point our lead detective took me out on the rooftop and he was sitting there with two other detectives and I was like, what is going on? I didn't know. Then when I looked up and he had his arm crossed with the left hand over the top of the right arm, I did not want to hear what he had to say.
Wendy Lyons:
Hey, you know there's more to the story so go download the next episode like the true crime fan that you are.
David Lyons:
The Murder Police podcast is hosted by Wendy and David Lyons and was created to honor the lives of crime victims so their names are never forgotten. It is produced, recorded, and edited by David Lyons. The Murder Police podcast can be found on your favorite Apple or Android pod platform as well at murderpolicepodcast.com where you will find show notes, transcripts, information about our presenters, and a link to the official Murder Police podcast merch store where you can purchase a huge variety of Murder Police podcast swag.
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