Former B-CU student convicted of killing another ex-B-CU student and another man

A former Bethune-Cookman University student was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm in the killing of another ex-student and his friend in a Daytona Beach apartment.

Damon Kemp, now 24, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was also found guilty of armed burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery. He has been held in the Volusia County Branch Jail since his arrest in 2018.

Kemp did not appear to show any reaction to the verdict.

Kemp shot and killed Trey Ingraham and Jordan Paden, both 19, on Dec. 7, 2018, in apartment 434 at the Jade Park Apartment Homes at 500 Jimmy Ann Drive, according to police. Ingraham was shot four times and Paden six. Their bodies were found inside next to the apartment's door.

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Ingraham was a former B-CU student from Palm Beach County who was planning to return to the university.

A jury of six men deliberated for about an hour Friday before reaching a verdict at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

Circuit Judge Leah Case will set a sentencing date for Kemp who faces 26 years to life in prison based on sentencing guidelines. Each count of second-degree murder carries a minimum of 25 years in prison.

Kemp did not testify. He sometimes wrote on a pad on Friday during closings. He took occasional drinks from a bottle of water.

The double murder in Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach Police responded to a break-in at the apartment complex early on the morning of Dec. 7, 2018, and arrested Kemp. That incident occurred at a different apartment where Kemp, armed with a pistol, threatened to kill the resident, who managed to push him out and lock the door.

According to testimony, Kemp kept walking toward a police officer despite the officer having his gun drawn and ordering him to stop.

Officers also said Kemp was yelling about Africa, saying he was Black and an officer was white and saying something about Atlanta. Police officers said Kemp was soaked and they found a .40-caliber Glock near a pond.

Officers testified that Kemp also said something else: "I killed Ace," referring to Ingraham.

Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant State Attorney Boone Forkner, said in her closing that Kemp shot Ingraham and Paden in the back inside their apartment as they tried to flee. Then Kemp left the apartment and jumped in the pond to wash off any blood.

Damon Kemp's palm print on gun holster

Kemp's palm print was found on a holster for the .40-caliber Glock, which was the murder weapon, Thomas said. She said an analyst matched shell casings found in the apartment to the Glock, which was found by the pond.

The Glock belonged to Ingraham. Daytona Beach Police Detective Dave Dinardi testified that Ingraham had traded a puppy for the gun. Ingraham had gone home to Palm Beach County to bring back some puppies to sell.

Kemp's defense attorney, Richard Zaleski Jr., said in his closing that prosecutors had failed to show that Kemp was the shooter. He said that prosecutors could not say when Kemp left his palm print on the holster and Kemp had previously lived in the apartment before Ingraham told him months before to move out.

One of Ingraham's sisters had testified he owned a 9 mm and that gun was never found, Zaleski said.

But Zaleski said that if jurors found he was the shooter then there was plenty of evidence that Kemp was legally insane at the time of the double murder. Zaleski pointed to Kemp's erratic behavior that night.

Zaleski said that at the time Kemp had been living with a man named Quincy Stith who said Kemp had been acting strange, talking about "National Soil Day" and that the radio was listening to him. He said the bizarre behavior continued into the night. He said Stith testified that Kemp had put him in a choke-hold twice as he was driving them around town.

Stith later dropped Kemp off at the apartment complex where the two victims lived.

Thomas, the prosecutor, said that although Kemp was acting strangely and a state expert testified he may have had some mental issue, his behavior did not rise to the level of legal insanity. She said the state did not have a motive for the killing but it didn't need one.

Thomas said Kemp's state of mind that night could have been the result of having smoked marijuana three times that day.

Family speaks of pain and loss

Ingraham’s mother, Nerissa Young from Palm Beach County, asked the judge to sentence Kemp to life. She fought back tears as she spoke about her son and the void left in her life by his killing.

“I miss him so badly,” Young said. “I miss his laugh. It was such a contagious laugh. I miss his spirit. I miss the smell of him. I miss his sense of humor. I miss his hugs. Trey was such a sweet and generous young man.”

She said her family has been grieving for almost five years.

“This is a scar that I don’t think is ever going to heal,” Young said as another family member wept in the gallery.

Ingraham’s older sister, Lakin Goldwire, also spoke.

“Trey was an amazing kid,” she said.

And she said Kemp had shown no remorse.

“Damon is pure evil. He had absolutely no reason to murder in cold blood two people who were trying to help him,” Goldwire said.

She turned toward Kemp.

Kemp appeared to look straight ahead, showing no reaction.

“You shot Trey in his heart. You shot him in his heart,” Goldwire said. “The same organ that even created a space for you to know him.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ex-Bethune-Cookman University student convicted of killing 2 men in Daytona