MIAMI – A 26-year-old man who murdered a teenager in his sleep at a high-rise in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood was visiting from out of state, according to police.
Authorities are still trying to figure out why suspect Kyrill Kehl was in Miami to begin with ― and what led him to enter a 34th-floor unit and stab Dominic Ferrell, 17, in a random attack. Kehl was later found dead from an apparent fall at a nearby construction site.
Police said Kehl is from Arizona and had been in South Florida for several days. His LinkedIn page states that he’s a graduate of Arizona State University who formerly worked for defense contractor Northrop Grumman in Sunnyvale, California.
Police said he was looking for unlocked doors at the Icon Brickell building, located at 485 Brickell Ave., until he entered the unit Ferrell was staying in at around 2:15 a.m. Sunday and committed the brutal killing.
“We know that he was in the lobby for a short time before he observed two men going to the 47th floor; what he did is he got in the elevator with them,” Officer Mike Vega, an Miami Police Department spokesperson, said. “We are able to see (on CCTV video) how he goes door by door, trying to see if they’re open. Knocking on doors. Having conversations with people.
“These are people of interest that we want to talk to to see what state of mind he was in,” Vega said.
Two witnesses staying in an Airbnb in the building said Kehl tried to follow them and seemed “out of it.”
Kehl has no apparent criminal past outside of minor traffic infractions from 2020.
Investigators now have the task of piecing together clues to figure out why he would senselessly murder Ferrell, a Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School alum, as the teenager’s devastated family mourns.
“It is heartbreaking to see this kid (who) doesn’t have a future now,” Vega said.
Vega said investigators are also speaking with Kehl’s family.
Local 10 News is still waiting to hear back from Icon Brickell management regarding questions over the building’s safety procedures.