Arrest made in cold case

Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Sgt. Scott Haines called a press conference this morning to announce the resolution of a Santa Rosa County homicide that occurred over a decade ago.

On May 07, a warrant was issued for Kimberly Mary Cannon, 40 a Hispanic female living in Tallahassee, for one first-degree felony count of Homicide-Willful Kill. Cannon is accused of murdering her third husband, Darren Kelley, 23, and disposing of his body on the property they had lived at and married on.

After the warrant was issued, Santa Rosa County investigators traveled to Leon County and met with Leon County Sheriff’s Deputies who assisted with the apprehension of Cannon.

When Cannon was taken into custody, she attempted to escape by slipping out of her handcuffs and fighting with the deputy transporting her to the Leon County Jail. She tried to disarm the deputy by trying to remove his gun from his holster. She also tried to run away and at this time she was tased by the deputy and taken back into custody.

Cannon has been married 5 times, Kelley was her third husband and she is currently married to her fifth husband. She has three children, one by her first husband, one by her fourth, and the youngest by her fifth husband.

The ‘cold case’ had been actively investigated by local law enforcement for over 13 years and the recent find of a human fibula [lower leg bone] in January of 2008 confirmed Kelley had been murdered and his body disposed of on the property he had lived on with Cannon.

On August 13, 1998, Cannon’s first husband filed a missing person report with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department. The report listed Kelley as missing for over three years, since the end of May/early June of 1995. At the time of his disappearance, Kelley was residing at 7803 Munson Highway in Santa Rosa County.

Kelley began his relationship with Cannon in 1994, shortly after he moved to the area. She was married to her second husband at the time they began residing together.

Cannon and Kelley started a business together called ‘K & K Lawn and Housekeeping Service’ cleaning houses and providing lawn services.

In 1994, Kelley purchased 14 acres on Munson Highway and a doublewide mobile home was placed on the property. In February of 1995 the home burned and the cause of the fire was determined to be electrical malfunction.

Kelley and Cannon were married on the property on May 21, 1995 and Kelley’s mother, Lorna Kelley, traveled from Germany to attend the wedding. About a week later, the newlyweds traveled to Panama City to visit Kelley’s mother before she was to return to Germany. This was the last time Lorna Kelley would see her son.

According to the warrant, Kelley told his mother at this last meeting “If you don’t see or hear from me again, I will probably be dead.”

The evening before Mrs. Kelley left to go back to Germany, she received a telephone call from Kelley and she heard screaming in the background. Kelley told his mother Cannon was throwing things, pulling things off the wall, and had just left with her daughter.

At this time, according to documents from Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department, Kelley told his mother Cannon had threatened his life. He also told her if he didn’t call her [his mother] back tomorrow, then he would probably be dead.

The last time Kelley’s mother heard her son’s voice he said, “see, I told you. I just wanted you to hear this because no one believes me.”

During the course of the investigation over the past ten years, numerous searches had been executed at the property previously owned by the couple.

During the last search conducted on January 11, 12, and 13, Louisiana Search and Rescue Dog Teams and University of West Florida students who were assisting with the search located a human bone. The bone was sent to Baylor University for special analysis due to its condition. Baylor University concluded the bone shared the DNA of the victim’s mother and brother.

Based on the results of the investigation, Sheriff’s investigators were able to establish probable cause that Cannon had killed her husband and disposed of his body on their property.

Cannon filed for a divorce from Kelley in Santa Rosa County in October of 1995 and stated in the Petition for Dissolution the last date she saw or heard from her husband was June 12, 1995, 22 days after they were married.

Cannon was awarded Kelley’s vehicle and the two properties he owned in the divorce.

Cannon is currently being held without bond at the Leon County Jail on their charges of Escape, Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer, and Resisting an Officer with Violence.

There is a hold placed on Cannon for the open count of murder in Santa Rosa County.