GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An appeals courts has ruled that Robin Root will receive a new trial for the 2007 murder of Janna Kelly.
In a ruling released Friday, the Court of Appeals said the statements Root made to police shouldn’t be allowed as evidence and her conviction has been tossed. A new trial date has not yet been scheduled.
Robin Root (center) during an April 22, 2015 taped interview that lasted several hours.
Root was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December 2015 for the murder of Kelly. A jury found Root guilty of first-degree murder in the case.
Kelly disappeared on Dec. 4, 2007. It wasn’t until March 2008 when Kelly’s burned body was found in an Ottawa County blueberry field.
DNA evidence that went untested for years led police to Root in July 2014.
In a taped interview on April 22, 2015, Root told officers she pushed Kelly during an argument over back rent. Root said Kelly, who was her landlady, was knocked unconscious. Root told police she loaded Kelly into the trunk of her car and left her there overnight. Root said when she returned the next day, Kelly was dead. Police said Root dumped Kelly’s body in an Ottawa County blueberry field and set it on fire.