Fatal stabbing at luxury Brickell high-rise appears to be random, police say
.jpg "Dominic Ferrell, 17, was killed by Kyrill Kehl, 26, in a Brickell high-rise on Sunday morning.")
A teenager was stabbed to death in his sleep at a luxury Brickell high-rise over the weekend, and the police are still unwinding what exactly led an apparent stranger to enter the condo, slay the teen and then fall to his death at a neighboring building shortly after.
Miami police responded to a report of a man being stabbed around 2:16 a.m. on Sunday and found 17-year-old Dominic Ferrell dead on the 34th floor of the Icon Residences by SS Vacation Rentals, located at 485 Brickell Ave. Ferrell was a student at Miami Beach Senior High and started a dog-walking business in January 2023.
His middle school alma mater, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School, commemorated his loss via Instagram on Tuesday evening.
Witnesses and surveillance footage showed the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Kyrill R. Kehl from Arizona, ran into a neighboring building that was under construction. Police followed a trail of blood and found Kehl had fallen to his death. Police say it’s unclear whether the fall was intentional or accidental.
Kehl’s LinkedIn profile reveals he’s an Arizona State University graduate with a two-year stint working in the defense industry. A GoFundMe fundraiser started in November 2024 suggests he was traveling in India and donating clothing to needy communities last autumn.
Police say Kehl arrived in Miami a few days before the stabbing. They don’t know how he got here.
How Kehl accessed the luxury residency
Like many high rises, Icon Brickell had security designed to prevent strangers from entering the building.
“He was in the lobby, which is open to the public. He waited until two men went into the elevator and went up to the 47th floor. He tried different doors to see if they were unlocked,” Miami Police spokesperson Officer Mike Vega told the Miami Herald.
Eventually, Kehl made his way down to the 34th floor, police said, where he found Ferrell’s front door unlocked. Kehl then entered the teen’s bedroom and stabbed him multiple times.
Another person was also sleeping in the apartment where Ferrell was murdered, Vega said. He believes the teen was staying there temporarily because the residence is a short-term rental.
Some of the towers, like tower one, have strict security, residents said.
“It takes a long, long time to get in there, and once you’re in, security’s great. [Guests] still have to go to the desk, they still have to confirm where they’re going and the person in the apartment has to say ‘Yes, let them up,” said a part-time Icon Brickell resident, who declined to share his name because he worked in the building.
But the resident said the tower where Ferrell was stabbed was a magnet for out-of-town partiers because of condo subletting practices and guests from the W Miami hotel, as tower 3 has both hotel rooms and condo units.
The Miami Herald reached out to Icon Brickell’s management team for comment but they declined to respond.
Another open question is what prompted the killing.
Vega said police believe the 26-year-old’s potential mental health issues played a part, but he said toxicology report results confirming whether drugs and alcohol are also to blame won’t be available for months.
Ferrell and Kehl appear to have no relation to one another, according to investigators, leaving Brickell locals shaken up about the safety of the upscale neighborhood.
“There are a lot of issues with the security around here, especially since it’s supposed to be a luxury area,” said Marianne Sucre, who’s lived in Brickell for 20 years. “This kind of stuff has been happening a lot . . . You always hear that someone is approached or yelled at or [hear of] a lot of violent situations.”
In a statement released Sunday, Miami Police Chief Manny Morales assured residents that there is no threat to public safety but stressed that staying vigilant and securing your home is crucial to preventing similar crimes.
“We know for a fact that they did not know each other. They were strangers and this guy was just going from apartment to apartment, opening and knocking on doors, so again it is very important to lock your doors and do not open them to strangers,” Vega told Miami Herald news partner CBS4.
Miami Herald staff writer Grethel Aguila contributed to this article.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM.
