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Second trial underway for woman in 2007 murder of Grand Rapids businesswoman

Nearly three years after Robin Root was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing her landlord over an unpaid debt, a new murder trial got underway Monday in Kent County. The Michigan Court of Appeals last year overturned Root's 2015 conviction for the murder of Grand Rapids businesswoman Janna Kelly.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Nearly three years after she was found guilty of killing her landlord over an unpaid debt, a new murder trial got underway Monday for 55-year-old Robin Root after her 2015 conviction was overturned.

Root is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 2007 death of Janna Kelly, whose body was found three months later in an Ottawa County blueberry field. The case went unsolved for several years until investigators linked Root to the crime through DNA evidence.

Her first trial lasted a week. A Kent County jury deliberated four hours before convicting Root of first-degree murder. She was sentenced in Dec. 2015 to life in prison.

In Sept. 2017, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The three-judge panel said portions of Root's videotaped statement to police should have been off limits.

Portions of the interview occurred before Root was informed of her Miranda rights, “thus depriving her of her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,’’ justices wrote in a 19-page decision calling for a new trial.

Earlier this year, the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office made Root an offer to avoid another trial. Under the deal, Root would enter a plea to second-degree murder and serve a minimum term of 20 years in prison.

Root rejected the offer, setting the stage for trial. Although the trial is being held in Kent County Circuit Court, the case is being handled by Ottawa County Assistant Prosecutor Lee Fisher because Root’s body was found in Ottawa County.

A jury was seated in Kent County Circuit Judge Joseph Rossi’s courtroom Monday morning. Both sides gave opening statements Monday afternoon before the case was adjourned for the day. Testimony is slated to get underway on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

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