Tragic end to Jefferson City kidnapping case

The case of a St. Louis man charged with kidnapping a young Jefferson City boy last Saturday came to a tragic end in southeast Missouri on Tuesday night.

Jefferson City police released a statement early Wednesday morning saying Demitrius Beasley, 40, and six-year-old Markell Beasley were found dead from apparent gun shot wounds in Cape Girardeau, where authorities had tracked them to.

No details were available as to what occurred to cause the shooting, but it was reported that Cape Girardeau authorities responded to a shots fired call and found the two at a residence.

The investigation into what exactly occurred is ongoing.

Beasley had been formally charged on Tuesday, the same day an endangered person advisory, and later an Amber Alert, had been issued for Markell.

According to police reports, at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Markell's mother, Michelle Gelling, allowed Markell to travel to St. Louis from Jefferson City with family members of Demitrius for a Christmas gathering.

The family members took Markell to St. Louis and then released him to the custody of Demitrius.

Markell was partially raised by Gelling and Demitrius, but Demitrius had no legal rights to Markell and was not the biological father of the victim.

Demitrius and Gelling exchanged a series of text messages and phone calls and during those calls, Demitrius made threats to Gelling that the child would not be returned to her and made threats to others trying to take the child from him.

Upon further investigation, there was no indication that there was a Christmas gathering in St. Louis and the intention was to give Markell to Demitrius.

Court documents show Demitrius said he would not go back to prison. He had been convicted of felonies in Cape Girardeau and St. Francois Counties.

He also told Gelling, "God would see Markell before she would."

Additional reports online:

Southeast Missourian: Two dead in apparent murder-suicide