Illinois woman arrested on Paducah murder charge

An Illinois woman has been arrested and charged with the murder of her boyfriend in Paducah following a months-long investigation after she initially claimed he died after falling down a flight of steps.

Paducah Police said they were called in March of 2022 to an apartment on Berger Road in reference to an unresponsive man where 28-year-old Jarvis Plato was pronounced dead at the scene.  

Police said Plato's live-in girlfriend, Aaryan Kelley, told them Plato had fallen down a flight of stairs earlier that morning. However, police noticed signs of a struggle or altercation in the apartment, and said Plato had fresh injuries to his face not consistent with a fall.

Authorities claim that Kelly changed her story about the incident numerous times throughout the investigation.

Additional autopsy results received by the Regional Crime Laboratory confirmed the manner of death to be homicide.

A warrant charging Kelley with murder/domestic violence was obtained Wednesday and detectives traveled to Illinois to arrest Kelley, who was living in Herrin, IL.  She was located and arrested as she arrived for work Wednesday afternoon in Carterville, IL.

Kelley was booked into the Williamson County, IL, jail, awaiting extradition to Kentucky.