MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A former assistant principal at the school Kameela Russell worked at has been charged with her murder.
Thirty-nine-year-old Ernest Joseph Roberts, who was a childhood friend and godfather to Russell’s children, was arrested on Friday morning and charged with first-degree murder.
Hours later, 7News cameras captured Roberts as he was escorted by officers to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle confirmed his charges during a news conference.
“Today, Ernest Roberts has been arrested and charged with the murder of Kameela Russell,” she said.
Meanwhile, crime scene detectives were spotted at the suspect’s home hours after his arrest.
“We worked diligently on this case, and like I told you before, we weren’t going to sleep until we got the subject who did it,” said Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt.
Officials said Roberts was a former assistant principal at Miami Norland Senior High School where the 41-year-old mother of two also worked as a test proctor.
Nearly seven months ago, Roberts transferred schools to work at Linda Lentin K-8 Center.
Fernandez Rundle said Roberts and Russell were lifelong friends.
“Kameela Russell and Ernest Roberts knew each other since they were children. Roberts is the godfather of both of Russell’s children,” she said.
But on May 15, Russell was reported missing after, authorities said, she pulled up to her aunt’s house at around 6 p.m. to pick up her daughter, then left abruptly.
According to the arrest warrant, investigators said, Russell got a call from Roberts luring her to his home down the street.
“She entered the defendant’s home, never being seen alive again,” said Fernandez Rundle.
Her body was found 10 days later floating in a canal.
The canal, located in the area of Northwest 207th Street and 15th Avenue, is less than a block away from the driveway of her aunt’s home and about a mile away from Roberts’ home.
“At around 6 p.m., she received a call from the defendant and pulled out of the driveway,” said Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Driving only a short distance because he lived very close by, she pulled out of the driveway and then drove to the defendant’s house and that was the last time she was seen alive.”
According to the Medical Examiner’s report, she suffered blunt injuries to both sides of the head.
“Neighbor’s video surveillance shows that the defendant was driving the victim’s vehicle away from his home less than an hour after she went inside,” said Fernandez Rundle.
Detectives working the case received several anonymous tips mentioning Roberts may have been involved in Russell’s disappearance, according to the arrest warrant.
Police said the suspect’s behavior became increasingly suspicious. The warrant went on to note, on May 20, just before Roberts was set to chaperon a school trip to Washington D.C., he called an employee at the school to tell him he had left him a note.
The note read as follows: “Do you know anyone that can chop up a car? If so or make it “disappear” take these keys. It’s behind the speedway racetrack on 441 by County line. Friends are gone and need it to disappear. If not leave it and I’ll work it out later. Throw this note away!”
There were a set of car keys along with the note.
“What he was supposed to do with his car? What he was supposed to do with the car was chop it up so no one could find it,” said Fernandez Rundle.
The employee notified Miami Gardens Police about the suspicious note and that Roberts had confessed to him that he had murdered someone.
According to the arrest report, Roberts called the employee on May 15 to tell him he “did something crazy,” and after meeting in person, he claimed he confronted an intruder at his mother’s house and fatally struck the person with a baseball bat.
The employee also told detectives Roberts asked him how to get rid of blood stains.
Upon further investigation, detectives located the vehicle mentioned in the note and found several blood stains in the house Roberts was living in.
“This is what has happened in this very complicated investigation that is still ongoing,” said Fernandez Rundle.
While the investigation continues, prosecutors said, one significant question remains: why?
“They considered him part of their family,” said Fernandez Rundle. “It’s human nature to try to find out that, how was it that someone so close could have done this to someone that was so loved by so many people?”
A Miami-Dade County Public Schools district spokesperson released the following statement after the arrest:
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is appalled and saddened after learning of today’s arrest in connection to the death of Kameela Russell. Miami-Dade Schools Police has provided any and all assistance requested by the Miami Gardens Police Department in their investigation. Based on preliminary information we received, the District took precautionary measures while the case was being investigated and immediately removed the individual from duty. Following his arrest, the District has initiated the employment termination process. Our prayers and thoughts continue to be with Ms. Russell’s family.”
Russell’s mother and aunt were at the State Attorney’s Office on Friday to hear the news they had been waiting for. They declined to comment on Roberts’ arrest.
“Today we were glad to get some kind of closure for you and your family,” Noel-Pratt told Russell’s loved ones.
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