Dylan McFarlane found guilty in Miami Gardens double shooting

McFarlane, 21, faces life in prison during sentencing

MIAMI – A Miami-Dade County jury found a man accused in a Miami Gardens double shooting guilty on two counts of first-degree murder Wednesday.

Dylan McFarlane, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, armed carjacking and armed robbery for the July 2011 deaths of a couple fatally shot at a Miami Gardens gas station.

Julian Soler, 23, and Kennia Duran, 24, pulled into the gas station that night to gas up Soler's white Ford Mustang.

The pair was ambushed and shot by as many as four people as seen in surveillance video from the gas station. Neither Duran nor Soler resisted. Police said the thieves were after Soler's car.

Weeks later, police arrested then-16-year old Eric Ellington, who was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison. Ellington was the gunman who shot and killed Soler.

Ellington confessed to police and pinpointed McFarlane as the other gunman who shot and killed Duran, who was a mother of a young son.

McFarlane's trial, which took two weeks, focused on circumstantial evidence. Jurors saw the surveillance video of the murders, but by law, they were barred from even knowing about the alleged confession that implicated McFarlane.

Prosecutors also used McFarlane's cellphone records, which showed his close proximity to the gas station about the time of the double murder, and several phone calls to Ellington shortly before the crime.

McFarlane faces life in prison when he is sentenced.

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About the Author

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.

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