BOCA RATON, Fla. – A Boca Raton couple staying in the Icon Brickell building said they encountered a suspect moments before he would go on to enter a unit and stab a teenager to death in his sleep in an attack police described as random.
Miami police said Kyrill Kehl, 26, followed two men who had a key card into an elevator at the building at 485 Brickell Ave., got off on the 47th floor before making his way down to the 34th floor, where he checked for unlocked units, eventually reaching 17-year-old Dominic Ferrell as he slept.
Kehl would escape and was later found dead after falling at a nearby construction site.
Bruna Pereira and boyfriend Zachary High said they’re counting their blessings after encountering Kehl just before the murder.
“Thank God I am alive,” Pereira said. “God was definitely with me in that moment.”
High said, “I have been so sick to my stomach for the past couple days.”
“Once we heard that the killing happened, me and Bruna were like that had to be that guy, he was acting so weird,” High said.
The two, visiting Miami for the weekend with friends and staying at an Airbnb in the building, said they encountered Kehl in a stairwell, holding a fire extinguisher and staring at them.
“His eyes were just wide open; he just very much seemed out of it,” Pereira said.
They said they ran as he tried to follow them into a stairwell.
“The girls heard him come in and they started screaming like, ‘Go, go, go’ and then the second time I looked back, then I saw him skipping stairs and he was almost like running after us,” High said.
The group made it to their unit and locked their door.
Bruna said she believes more needs to be done by hotels and residential buildings to keep those inside safe.
“Hotels like that, especially, if you are having Airbnb you should really be careful who you let into the building,” Pereira said.
Ferrell graduated from Saint Peter and Paul Catholic School in Miami.
The school released a statement Tuesday saying, in part, “Today, our Panther family mourns the loss of a beloved alum. We are united in prayer and remembrance for Dominic and the entire Ferrell family during this difficult time...he will always be remembered for his spirit, faith, and love that touched so many.”