A Missouri father pleaded not guilty in 2019 to charges that he raped, sodomized, and suffocated his daughter, a high school honors student, at a motel.
In March 2016, 18-year-old Daizsa Bausby was found dead in a South Kansas City, Missouri motel room. Her body had multiple scrapes to the forehead, neck, lips and nose, and was “improperly dressed” as though she someone else had put clothes on the body, according to the medical examiner. That medical examiner also performed a sexual assault forensic exam, or “rape kit.”
No charges were filed until six months later, after DNA linked Daizsa’s father, Jerry Bausby, to her death.
Many close to Daizsa said they suspected right away that her death came at the hands of her father. Court documents dating back to 1994 reveal an extensive criminal record for Jerry, including a history of substance abuse and several drunk driving misdemeanors.
Throughout the four-day trial, prosecutors leaned on video surveillance from the motel and a nearby convenience store. They also cited DNA evidence, which assistant prosecuting attorney Jill Icenhower said was undeniable. According to the medical examiner, Jerry’s DNA was in his daughter’s mouth and anus, and her DNA was found on his genitals.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Gara Feldman-Gary said there was insufficient evidence to prove Jerry killed his daughter. She even went so far as to argue that what happened, before Daizsa was killed that night, was “consensual.”
“Why would she drive with her father to a motel if she didn’t want to have a consensual sexual relationship with him? … Why would she remain there for hours if she didn’t want to be there?” Feldman-Gary asked the jury. “Most teens would probably go there to get drugs or alcohol. She was going there to have a secret rendezvous with her dad.”
“She’s not a victim,” the defense attorney said. “She was a willing participant.”
Jerry appeard to remain unfazed throughout the July trial. Daizsa’s maternal aunt Gaye Martin told the court Friday that haunted her.
“He refused to take responsibility. He did not show any remorse,” Martin said.
In his 45-minute statement at his sentencing, Bausby only mentioned his daughter’s name once.
“Yes, Daizsa was a star,” he said before veering off to talk about himself.
He referred to his daughter’s murder as an “extremely unfortunate occurence” and denied culpability, though he did tell the court “the incest virus made its way to me.”
“I was bewildered by my sudden behavior, which is why I sought help,” he said.
In the rambling statement, Jerry talked about his schizophrenic mom who, he said, beat him with electrical cords, his mental health issues, racism and conspiracy theories about the criminal justice system. Further, he told the court he was a victim.
With the final word for the jury, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker held up photographs of the injured body of the slain 18-year-old in the motel room bed. Her voice and hands shook. Her face turned red.
“This is not consent,” Baker nearly shouted in court.
Baker said Daizsa was “brutally sodomized,” that she “endured the horror of her father on top of her.”
The cause of death was ruled asphyxiation by smothering.
Baker took out her phone, and started a clock. The court sat in piercing silence for 30 seconds — the amount of time it typically takes for someone to lose consciousness from smothering. It takes another 3-5 minutes for that person to die, Baker said.
Jerry remained mostly unfazed throughout the trial, but at that, he hung his head, however briefly.
“He knocked her down, and she never got back up,” Baker said.
During her short life, Daizsa made a significant impact on her community. She was at the top of her class at Southwest Early College Campus, an honor student just weeks from graduating, already with enough credits for an associate’s degree from Penn Valley Metropolitan Community College, where she was enrolled in an early college program.
On July 15, 2019, the jury found him guilty on all charges. On September 21, 2019, A Jackson County judge sentenced Jerry Bausby to two consecutive terms of life in prison for second-degree murder and first-degree sodomy. He was concurrently sentenced to 11 years for incest and sexual abuse.
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