Background: The area of Oakley Avenue and East 36th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri (Google Maps). Inset: Elaysha Gilliam (Marcom-Harvey Funeral Care).
A man in Missouri described as "jealous" and "controlling" allegedly bound his girlfriend's hands and feet, put duct tape around her mouth and head, and killed her.
Ramello Robinson-Parks has been charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office announced.
The victim was identified by Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB as 26-year-old Elaysha Gilliam. The suspect's age is unclear.
According to a statement of probable cause, a homeless couple who lived in the area of Oakley Avenue and East 36th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, said they were walking through a nearby field on Feb. 19, 2024, when they came across a body. They "recalled hearing a woman scream and gunshots" two nights earlier.
Officers with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department were called to the area "in regard to a dead body." They arrived to find a woman who had suffered trauma "in an overgrown vacant lot."
The victim — Gilliam — was pronounced dead. Her cause of death was later determined to be multiple gunshot wounds with the manner being homicide.
Her hands and feet were zip-tied, she had "duct tape over her mouth and wrapped around her head, and multiple gunshot wounds to her head, neck, torso, arm, and buttocks," authorities said. Eight .40 caliber shell casings were also found in the area.
As police investigated, they learned that Gilliam left home on Feb. 17, 2024, just after midnight "to meet her boyfriend," Robinson-Parks. The heavily redacted court document stated that a witness who knew Gilliam described the suspect as "abusive, recounting prior incidents where he physically assaulted" someone and caused her to lose a twin pregnancy.
Another person cited in the statement of probable cause described Robinson-Parks as "always jealous, insecure, and controlling." Detectives learned that Gilliam and Robinson-Parks had dated for about seven years but broke up about eight months before she was found dead. On Feb. 10, 2024, they went to Las Vegas together and returned home six days later.
On March 5, 2024, about two weeks after Gilliam's body was found, detectives say they spoke with Robinson-Parks, and he told them that Gilliam sometimes "disappeared for days after arguments." He later reportedly "refused to elaborate" on their discussions, saying he needed to "get himself together" before talking.
During Gilliam's autopsy, authorities found that Robinson-Parks was allegedly "a contributor of DNA on a swab collected" from a piece of a "latex medical-type glove" from the victim's hair.
Robinson-Parks was arrested on May 16, 2026. Authorities noted that he is a convicted felon in Missouri for involuntary second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident that caused physical injury.
The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office said Robinson-Parks is in federal custody for a separate case and that he will be transferred into Jackson County custody at a later time.
His bond has been set at $100,000 cash only.
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