A year after teen was stabbed 94 times in Brickell condo, more details emerge
The bizarre stabbing of a teen inside a luxury Brickell high-rise by a stranger was a murder-suicide, Miami detectives determined in an investigative report.
Dominic Ferrell, 17, was stabbed 94 times with a kitchen knife on June 8, 2025, in a condo in Tower 3 of the Icon Residences, 485 Brickell Ave. Dominic, the eldest of four siblings, was staying with his father at an Airbnb on the 34th floor of the building when he was stabbed around 2 a.m., according to the report.
In the 31-page document, detectives concluded that there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt that 26-year-old Kyrill Kehl, who arrived in Miami from Arizona a few days before the murder and had a history of mental illness, was Dominic’s killer.
Police closed the case without criminal charges because Kehl died by suicide when he fell to his death at a neighboring construction site shortly after the murder, according to the report.
READ MORE: Teen killed in Brickell stabbing remembered as model student, a friend full of life
Dominic had just finished his junior year at Miami Beach Senior High School, where he participated in debate and was on the golf team. He had attended Immaculata-La Salle High School in Coconut Grove for his freshman and sophomore years and was an alumnus of the middle school at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Miami.
The investigative report also detailed the horrors that Dominic suffered at Kehl’s hands inside the condo — as well as several alarming interactions that Kehl had with first responders during his short stay in Miami.
When reached for comment, Raul Delaheria, one of the attorneys representing Dominic’s mother, Christine Maron, said: “The investigation and report speak for themselves.”
In a statement, attorneys Jordan Abramowitz and John Morgan, who are representing Dominic’s father Jon Ferrell, said:
“The police report confirms what we have known from day one. A person was able to gain access to Mr. Ferrell’s unit in the ICON Brickell building and murdered a teenage boy in his sleep. Mr. Ferrell woke up to his son having been viciously attacked. He has spent every day since this horror trying to pick up the pieces of his life and pouring his love into his remaining three children.”
A random murder
When police arrived at the unit where Dominic was staying, they found the teen boy in bed, lying in a pool of blood, according to the report. The ambush was so violent that several of his ribs were completely cut through.
Two knives were located near the bed. One had a broken handle, and its blade was missing, the report says.
Dominic’s father told police Dominic came to the condo on his electric scooter. Ferrell wasn’t supposed to have contact with Dominic or his three siblings because his then-estranged wife had a temporary restraining order against him. Ferrell and Maron were going through a contentious divorce at the time. In March, they finalized their divorce and have shared custody of their children.
The pair, Ferrell told police, ate dinner together and went to bed. Hours later, he was awakened by a commotion next to him — a man he didn’t know was stabbing Dominic, according to the report. Dominic and Ferrell were sleeping beside one another.
Ferrell said he jumped out of bed, rushed into the kitchen and armed himself with two knives from the kitchen knife block, according to police. Ferrell said the attacker lunged at him, leading Ferrell to run out of the unit and into the hallway.
While in the hallway, Ferrell knocked on several doors, pleading for help. A woman in a nearby unit opened the door and witnessed Ferrell saying, “Please help me, someone is killing my son.”
The woman closed the door, and Ferrell headed down to the lobby — still holding the knives in his hands, according to the report.
Ferrell initially declined to provide DNA, fingerprints or a statement because he “felt he was a victim and was not being treated accordingly,” according to the report. He recounted what happened during the early morning hours his son was killed after police told him they found Kehl’s body.
The boy’s father also told police he didn’t believe he locked the door — and said he usually doesn’t because he is “never worried about locking the door because security is there,” the report says.
After the murder, several building residents reported seeing Kehl, who was wearing a textile-patterned, button-down shirt and white shorts, walking down the hallway with blood on his hands and clothing. Passersby also spotted Kehl walking down the street near the construction site where he wound up dead.
A K9 bloodhound brought to the crime scene tracked what police believe was a blood trail from the unit to the staircase, according to the report. The trail continued to the building’s loading dock and ended at the construction site, 77 SE Fifth St. The site was a five-minute walk from the Icon Residences.
When detectives found Kehl’s body at the construction site, he had a steel kitchen knife protruding from his pocket, according to the report. The knife was linked back to the knife set in the unit where Dominic and his father were staying.
Kehl also had the fob and key belonging to the unit inside his pocket, police say.
What police believe was a trail of blood led up to 18th floor of the construction site, the report says. Bloody handprints indicated that Kehl climbed toward the top of a construction crane.
The aftermath of Kehl’s plunge from the crane was captured on surveillance cameras, according to police. The Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled Kehl’s death a suicide, noted that Kehl partially detached his index and middle fingers, likely when he stabbed Dominic repeatedly.
Toxicology tests revealed that Kehl’s body had traces of methamphetamine and amphetamine as well as compounds found in kratom, the report says.
How did Kehl reach 34th floor?
Kehl breached several layers of security at the luxury building. How he did that — and got to the floor where Dominic was staying — was shrouded in mystery.
Hours before the killing, Kehl spent hours in the building’s lobby — even interacting with Miami Fire Rescue personnel. Kehl refused any further treatment after first responders took his vitals and remained in the building. He was never approached by security.
Surveillance video captured Kehl riding the elevator to the 15th floor, where the Tulum Rooftop Bar & Restaurant is located, according to the report. The restaurant is open to the public and can be accessed by anyone from the lobby elevators. He then took the elevator back down to the lobby and later followed two residents, who scanned their key fob, granting them access to the 42nd floor.
Dominic’s parents are suing the building because they say a lack of security and protections allowed Kehl to access the condo. The civil suit remains open, court records show.
READ MORE: ‘Unexplainable’: Lawyer blames teen’s slaying in Brickell condo on lax security
How exactly Kehl reached the 34th floor remains unclear. However, Kehl entered the condo where Dominic and his father were staying after attempting to open several doors before he came upon the unlocked door to the condo.
“I lost him in the most tragic and senseless way imaginable,” Maron, Dominic’s mother, said at a news conference last year. “No mother or parent should ever go through this heartbreaking loss. My family is completely shattered and broken as we grieve his loss and try to pick up the pieces.”
In a statement, Ferrell said he lost his son in an act of horrific violence — just after they had dinner, watched TV and made plans to go golfing for Father’s Day.
“No words can describe the mix of panic, grief, and loss I felt in those moments, realizing my son had been killed,” Ferrell said. “I lost the light of my life and my best friend that night, and I suffered an unthinkable trauma that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Killer exhibited concerning behavior
The day before the murder, Kehl’s mother, Sharon Barnes, who lives in Arizona, called police to report that her son had been displaying “unusual behavior,” according to the report. That day, Kehl called her and told her he was going to kill himself but later said he was joking, the report says.
Barnes told officers that he had a history of mental health problems and had arrived in Miami on June 1 after spending seven months in Europe and Asia.
However, aside from the wellness check that Barnes requested, police had been called to Kehl’s Coconut Grove Airbnb two other times.
While at the Airbnb, Kehl activated a fire alarm and paced around the property with a baseball bat, according to police. Kehl told officers he believed someone had entered his unit without permission; he added that he felt paranoid that a friend he was not on good terms with was following him.
Another time, police were called to the building because Kehl was kicking a door from the outside, the report says. The Airbnb manager ultimately canceled the remaining part of his reservation because of the back-to-back police interactions.
When officers entered the unit that Kehl was staying in, they uncovered cryptic handwritten notes that were pinned to the wall using kitchen knives. The notes were signed “demons” and “commander of demons XO.”
One said, “The Weak se threats the wise [illegible word] hordes of.”
“Koryonos, In the city of the blind the man with one eye is king,” the other said.
Whether the notes had a meaning — or were rambling thoughts — remains unclear. Police did not elaborate in the report.
Detectives didn’t speculate on a motive for Dominic’s killing in the report, although they previously told the Herald they believed the attack was random.
