 In 1986, Kell, then age 18, was asked by his 15-year-old long-time friend, Sandy Shaw, to beat Cotton Kelly for relentlessly stalking Shaw for sex.Her mother had gone to the police earlier, but there were no stalking laws on the books at that time, which caused Shaw to turn to Kell, her childhood protector from her old neighborhood.Cotton Kelly drove with Shaw, Kell, and a third young man (William "Billy" Merritt) into the desert, where Kell shot Kelly six times in the face, killing him.