CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri man has been convicted of stalking his girlfriend, dumping her body in a deserted suburban St. Louis field and torching her car.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Ray Ellis was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of 25-year-old Monica Sykes.
She disappeared in October 2016 in Berkeley. Ellis' car was found burning a week later. But Sykes' body wasn't found until February 2017 in Kinloch.
Prosecutors say Ellis confessed to a friend that he killed Sykes and that he and his brother, Jermaine Benjamin, burned the car because her blood was in it. Benjamin pleaded guilty to evidence tampering.
Ellis' defense lawyer said police arrested the wrong man based on tainted claims from one witness. Sentencing is set for Nov. 8.