A Wise County man faces murder charges in connection with the deaths of his wife and daughter, neither of whom had been seen in months, authorities said.
Robert Morairity, Jr., 45, is being held in Wise County Jail on an $800,000 bond.
According to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s Emergency Call Center received a phone call on Monday around 8:30 a.m. from the concerned 42-year-old brother-in-law of Kimberly Kellam.
Neither Kellam nor her 11-year-old daughter had been seen for several months, according to the caller.
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“They hadn’t said anything at this point because they had just been told other information that everything’s okay. Maybe she’s going to be alright. They were hoping for the best,” Sheriff Lane Akin said Thursday.
Sheriff Akin said two deputies were sent to a home near Decatur, located off County Road 4371, where the caller said Kellam was living with her husband later identified as Morairity. The couple had three children, according to the caller.
“The deputies found the house. It was mostly abandoned. There was no one there. They banged on the door and walked outside. Didn’t find anybody. Didn’t see anybody,” Akin said.
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After deputies continued to investigate, they tracked down Morairity in Dallas on Tuesday evening around 6 p.m. He was found with two children, a 10-year-old and a three-year-old. At first, Akin said Morairity claimed he hadn’t seen his wife or daughter in six months.
Eventually, Akin said the suspect admitted both were dead and their remains were inside of the garage of the home where deputies first visited the day before.
“It’s a sad situation. It’s something that anytime a child is involved, especially a mother and a child, it hurts us all. It hurts our hearts,” Akin told NBC 5 Thursday. “I’d hate to think what her [child's] mindset might have been at the time. I can’t imagine the terror she faced from her father.”
Akin said at this point, the motive remains unclear. NBC 5 spoke with Kenya Borden, who has known Kellam for about 15 years. Borden said she first met Kellam through a job in Lewisville.
“She was hardworking, friendly. Everybody loved her, looked up to her as a boss,” Borden said. “She lifted people up. Her energy was good. That’s what attracted me to her and her friendship, was her energy. Her good, kind sweet spirit.”
Borden said throughout the years, Kellam opened up to her about personal challenges.
“The hard stories started coming out about possible domestic violence, the hardships at home, and struggling to be a mom. The conditions. That’s when the friendship began bonding even more,” she said. “It’s scary knowing this type of violence is out there, and that our women don’t feel safe or like they have the resources that they can latch onto to protect them and their children.”
NBC 5 asked Sheriff Akin whether there were any indications of domestic violence leading up to the deaths of Kellam or her daughter. According to Akin, there was no evidence of domestic violence at this point in the investigation.
He noted that deputies responded to a call at the home in 2019 related to meth possession in the presence of children.
“I think in this case there was a little bit of fear. Some people didn’t want to call, because there were repercussions that might come,” Akin said. “It had been six months at least since these people had been seen, and we weren’t called until Monday. That’s unreasonable. We need to know these things because we need to do the best we can to help the victims, those who may have passed, but also those who may have been living in difficult situations.”
According to Akin, the 11-year-old was not enrolled in school at the time of her death. NBC 5 confirmed with the superintendent of Boyd ISD that Kellam enrolled the children with the district in January 2021.
"The children were no-shows in August of 2021 when school started. District personnel contacted the parents to check on the children and to remind the parents that school had started. The parents informed the school that the children were enrolled at Texas Online Academy Prep. District personnel verified the enrollment and forwarded the required information to Texas Online Academy Prep," Boyd ISD Superintendent Leslie Vann emailed Thursday night. "Parents may withdraw their children in person or via phone (documentation required). District personnel verify enrollment in homeschool, private school, or public school. If homeschool is indicated, the parent is asked to complete a letter of intent to homeschool."
Kellam and her daughter’s bodies have been sent to the Dallas Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. In the meantime, friends of Kellam said they will continue to be the voices for her and her daughter.
“I want her children to grow up knowing that she might have only had one friend," Borden said, "If it was me, I want my voice to be heard and for them to know that I loved her. That was a genuine person, and that she mattered. She touched lives. I’m a better person because Kim was my friend. She’s going to be missed.”
Morairity faces charges of tampering with a corpse, murder, and capital murder.
“He [the suspect] won’t see her face unless he closes his eyes and God gives him that epiphany. If he’s evil, then he won’t see that face, but he will see the people that care about her. I’ll be there,” Borden said.
As of Thursday evening, it is unclear whether Morairity has obtained an attorney. The two children he was found with this week have been released to CPS, according to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office.
