Man accused of sexually attacking, killing daughter

A Missouri man accused of sexually attacking and suffocating his high school honors student daughter and leaving her body in a motel room was jailed Wednesday on $750,000 cash bond.

Jackson County prosecutors charged 40-year-old Jerry Bausby on Tuesday with first-degree murder and felony counts of sodomy, incest and sexual abuse in the killing of 18-year-old Daizsa Laye Bausby in March. A prosecutor’s spokesman said Bausby, of Kansas City, was arrested Tuesday night.

Online court records don’t list an attorney to speak on Bausby’s behalf. His voicemail was not accepting messages Wednesday.

According to a probable cause statement, Bausby appears in surveillance video renting a Kansas City motel room March 21. A day later, cleaning staff found his daughter’s body in a room at that lodge. A medical examiner concluded the teenager died of asphyxia by smothering, police detective Ray Lenoir wrote in the statement.

Six hours after renting the 4 Acre Motel room, a man matching Jerry Bausby’s description is seen in the video leaving the motel, never to return. Lenoir says Bausby told police three days later that he picked up his daughter at home and rented the room for her and “some of her friends.” The father insisted he only stayed in the room for 20 to 30 minutes and walked to a friend’s house, leaving only his daughter in the room. Lenoir said Bausby denied having sexual contact with his daughter.

Lab tests completed Monday show genetic material swabbed from Jerry Bausby’s body matched the victim’s DNA.

Daizsa Bausby was an honors student who had been first in her class. She also ran track, played basketball and was a Junior ROTC member. She would have graduated from high school with enough dual credit hours to earn an associate degree from a local community college, with plans to attend Grambling State University in Louisiana.

Online court records show Jerry Bausby’s criminal history dates to at least 1995 and includes convictions — some drawing prison sentences — for theft, drugs, domestic assault, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. He also got a 120-day jail term for violation of a protection order.

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