DERBY — The man who admits to gunning down 29-year-old Kayla Wright of Derby will spend more than 13 years in federal prison on drug charges, even as he still awaits sentencing for her killing.
Jakiy Keith, 26, of Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Burlington to 13 years and one month behind bars. Keith had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and fentanyl and to carrying a firearm during a drug crime.
Federal prosecutors say Keith came north from Connecticut to run a drug operation that controlled the flow of illegal narcotics into Orleans County for more than a year. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher told the court Keith managed the trade and spread an atmosphere of “terror” across the region.
For people in Orleans County, the case is defined less by the drug charges than by the death of Wright, a local woman. Police say Keith shot her multiple times early on Feb. 2, 2024, inside a home on Route 100 in Troy. Charging documents say the killing grew out of the same drug operation, and that Keith feared Wright was going to report him to police.
Keith initially was charged with first-degree murder but reached a plea deal this year, admitting to a reduced count of second-degree murder along with unauthorized removal of a body. That charge carries a prison term of 20 years to life, meaning his time in custody is likely far from over.
Keith’s attorney, Chandler Matson, asked for a shorter federal sentence, citing a childhood marked by trauma and violence and saying his client hopes to build a different life. Keith apologized in court and said he was working to better himself.
Several others tied to the drug operation have also been charged in federal court. Keith is scheduled to be sentenced in Wright’s death in Orleans County later this year.
