DeLand Police Seek 17-Year-Old on 2 Murder Counts in Citadel Cadet Slaying

Q: Why were a Citadel cadet and his childhood friend killed after their last walk was caught on camera in DeLand?

Police have not yet said why Dustin Rose and Samson Campbell were killed. What is known is that the two childhood friends were last seen on surveillance video walking in DeLand around 6 p.m. on July 28, and were found dead the next night in a vacant industrial lot near West New York Avenue and the Athens Theatre area. Investigators say both young men had been shot multiple times. DeLand police have now obtained an arrest warrant for 17-year-old Keyan Jayden Rundell on two counts of second-degree murder. He remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities have not publicly explained what evidence led them to identify him as the suspect, and they have not released a motive. Police have described the case as an isolated incident, but the circumstances remain unclear. It is also not yet known whether the suspect, if arrested, will be charged as an adult under Florida law. Rose, 19, was home on break from The Citadel and had recently joined the South Carolina Army National Guard. Campbell, 18, had been living with relatives in the Chicago area and was back in DeLand with Rose, according to family, to spread the ashes of a family dog. So, the direct answer is that the killings appear to have been a targeted double shooting, but the reason behind them has not been publicly established. Detectives are still working to determine what led to the deaths.

Q: What evidence led police to seek a murder warrant for a 17-year-old after two friends were found shot in downtown DeLand?

Police have not publicly disclosed the specific evidence that established probable cause for the murder warrant. What is known is that detectives developed enough evidence during the investigation to obtain a warrant accusing 17-year-old Keyan Jayden Rundell of two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Dustin Rose and Samson Campbell. Publicly released facts show investigators relied on several strands of the case: surveillance video captured Rose and Campbell walking together around 6 p.m. on July 28, placing them together before they were later found dead; both victims were discovered the next day on a vacant industrial lot in downtown DeLand with multiple gunshot wounds; and police executed a search warrant on Aug. 1 at a home on Loughton Street with help from SWAT and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, suggesting detectives had tied that location to the homicide investigation. Authorities, however, have not said what was recovered in that search, whether ballistics, phones, witness statements, digital evidence or other forensic material linked the suspect to the killings. Police also have not released a motive. So, the short answer is that the warrant was based on evidence gathered through the active homicide investigation, including surveillance and follow-up searches, but the exact evidentiary basis has not yet been made public. Police continue to describe the suspect as armed and dangerous and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 4

DeLand police secured an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old suspect on two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Dustin Rose, 19, and Samson Campbell, 18.
Authorities said the suspect remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous, urging the public not to approach him and to call 911 instead.
Surveillance video last showed Rose and Campbell walking together around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28; the two childhood friends were found dead the next day in a vacant lot in downtown DeLand.
Rose was a Citadel cadet home on break and had recently joined the South Carolina Army National Guard; under Florida law, prosecutors could later decide whether the 17-year-old is tried as an adult.