BERKELEY, Mo. — A jury has convicted a man in the killing of Monica Sykes. Ray Ellis was found guilty of the crime Tuesday.
Ellis and Sykes were dating before she disappeared on October 28, 2016, family members confirmed with 5 On Your Side. The 25-year-old Berkeley woman was last seen getting into a vehicle that belonged to Ellis.
Search crews found her remains four months later. The final medical examiner’s report reclassified the manner of death as a homicide.
According to court documents, Ellis, 27, asked a witness how to burn up a car and confessed to the witness that while driving Sykes, he shot her in the head and dragged her body into a field.
After listening to evidence in the case and deliberating for several hours, jurors found Ellis guilty of second-degree murder, armed criminal action and two counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.
Ellis and his lawyer have 10 days to file a motion for a new trial.
