Kelly was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 30, 1969.  While attending the University of Miami and majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Kelly participated in the U.S. Army ROTC program, graduating from both U.S. Army Airborne School and Air Assault School and receiving recognition as a Distinguished Military Graduate.  After graduating from Washington University School of Law in 1994, Kelly practiced law in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) from 1995 to 2000.  After serving as a legal assistance attorney, he spent two years as a trial prosecutor at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then two years as an appellate prosecutor in the Washington, D.C., area, handling major criminal prosecutions at both levels.  Before joining Taylor & Aust, P.C. in 2006, Kelly spent over five years in a firm in St. Louis handling general litigation matters including business litigation and trademark infringement.