Man sought to calm nephew who is now charged with murdering him, affidavit says
A man killed on Aug. 30 went to his nephew’s Derby-area home to try to calm him down from a fight he’d been having with a woman throughout the day, according to an arrest affidavit released Wednesday by a Sedgwick County judge.
When the woman asked for help, 48-year-old Kelly Joe Ralph agreed to try to soothe his nephew, 32-year-old Douglass Ray Ryan McGathy, and drove over to his home in the 5600 block of south 143rd Street East, the affidavit says.
When Ralph arrived, he talked to McGathy in the driveway. But it reportedly turned into an argument when Ralph refused to take Douglass to a silver handgun that had been sold previously, the affidavit says.
The woman who asked Ralph for help calming McGathy told authorities during an interview that she heard a struggle, a fight and “someone fall to the ground,” the affidavit says. She told police she then heard McGathy yell for Ralph “to get up” and ask someone to call 911.
When deputies arrived at the house, they ordered everyone to the ground and handcuffed McGathy to force him to stay down.
McGathy, meanwhile, told the deputies “to save his uncle,” the affidavit says.
But it was too late.
A doctor at Wesley Medical Center pronounced Ralph dead after he was rushed to the hospital. The medical examiner who performed Ralph’s autopsy noted multiple stab wounds on his body, including injuries to his left kidney, arteries, a lung and his liver, stomach and colon, the affidavit says.
Authorities arrested McGathy and found the weapon used in the attack — a silver fixed blade knife with a black handle — thrown on top of his roof the next day, the affidavit says.
McGathy is charged with second-degree intentional murder in connection with Ralph’s death, two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery and one count of misdemeanor criminal damage to property. McGathy’s court-appointed defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His next court date is Oct. 19.
McGathy remains in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 6:28 PM.
