MIAMI (WSVN) - The former landlord of the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a teenage boy in a Brickell high-rise recalled a number of alarming encounters he had with the man.
Speaking with 7News on Wednesday, the former landlord, who identified himself as Christian, said he saw concerning signs about Kyrill Kehl a year before Sunday morning’s chilling crime.
“I remember specifically leaving the building and saying, ‘I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of this dude.’ And I said, ‘Watch, this mother[expletive] is gonna be on the news one day,'” said Christian.
According to City of Miami Police, 17-year-old Dominic Ferrell was found stabbed to death on the 34th floor of the Icon Residences, just after 2 a.m. on Sunday.
A preliminary investigation and eyewitness accounts revealed that Kehl, 26, bypassed lobby security and slipped into an elevator with other guests who had a key fob.
Kehl’s former landlord believes he knew Kehl could be a killer a year before he allegedly stabbed and killed Ferrell in his sleep.
“I had this weird inkling feeling of like, Dahmer. I literally had this thought like, ‘Oh my God, we’re dealing with Dahmer here.’ Jeffrey Dahmer vibes,” he said. “I just had these instincts that told me, ‘this guy is not a good guy.'”
Christian said he and his business partner, Mitchell, rented out an apartment to Kehl across the street from Flamingo Park in Miami Beach for a few months in 2024.
“My business partner and I, he bought this apartment. Ky was the first tenant that he had,” he said.
He said Kehl’s behavior at times was alarming.
“His eyes were always constantly wandering left to right, you know, it was very hard for him to focus and look into our eyes,” he said. “The guy had this stare, like, if looks could kill.”
Christian said the apartment was filthy while Kehl lived there, with the fridge filled with large packs of meat.
“It was packed with bags of meat that I had never seen before. They were, like, this big,” he said as he held up a cushion. “And the smell. I said, ‘How could anybody live in here with this smell? It smells like something is rotting.’ And so when I open the fridge, not only was there packs of meat, there was maggots everywhere and hundreds of flies that came out of the fridge. It was like something out of a horror movie.”
Christian said Kehl also kept an automatic rifle hidden in the apartment.
“A gun. He had an automatic rifle. He was trying to hide it behind a venetian blind like this and my heart kind of stopped,” he said. “I was going towards the closet, and I remember just hearing his footsteps behind me, and he jumped in front of me. He’s like, ‘Don’t go in there.'”
Christian and his business partner said Kehl’s behavior was terrifying, but not necessarily illegal, and that’s why they didn’t tell police.
“I’m still in disbelief, because I feel like, had we done something, but there’s no way, like I said, it goes back to, like, you can’t, there’s no telling whether you know for sure you’re in the presence of a murderer,” said Christian.
Authorities said, after Kehl slipped into the elevator shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, he began wandering around the hallways, starting on the 40th floor, checking for unlocked doors. He eventually made his way to the 34th floor.
“This man went to the 40-something floor trying to open doors, got down to the 34th floor, began to do the same thing. Unfortunately, Dominic’s door was open,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
Police said Kehl entered the unit where the victim was sleeping, and stabbed him multiple times, ultimately taking his life.
Investigators said the suspect crossed Brickell Avenue and went into a building that was under construction across the street.
Detectives said Kehl then fell hundreds of feet to his death. It’s unclear whether the fall was intentional or accidental.
Investigators said Kehl was visiting from Arizona, although his LinkedIn profile showed he was living in California.
Ferrell’s loved ones on Tuesday posted photos and videos of him, saying these are the messages they would keep with them forever.
“It’s very senseless. I mean, somebody lost a son and it shouldn’t have happened,” said a local area resident.
Police said they are waiting on a toxicology report to see if there were any drugs present in Kehl’s system at the time.
So far, there are no records showing Kehl had any previous criminal history.
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