Damon Kemp goes on trial in double-murder of former B-CU student and other man

It appeared Damon Kemp expected to be charged with more than aggravated assault with a firearm when he was booked at the Daytona Beach Police Department in 2018, a police officer testified Tuesday at Kemp's trial.

“It seems like he thought there should have been more charges because he asked multiple times,” Detective Zachary Ravi told Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas.

Kemp, now 24, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and 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, a former student at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, 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.

A jury of eight men began hearing testimony Tuesday before Circuit Judge Leah Case at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

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Damon Kemp case: Three friends, two murders, one arrest: What happened in Apartment 434?

'I killed Ace'

Ingraham, who went by the nickname Ace, moved to Daytona Beach to attend Bethune-Cookman University. He was previously a running back and receiver on the St. John Paul II Academy football team in Boca Raton. His mother said in a previous interview that he'd left B-CU halfway through his sophomore year but planned to return.

On Tuesday, police testified about Kemp's arrest and his behavior.

Daytona Beach police first encountered Kemp on Dec. 7, 2018, at 1:51 a.m. when they responded to reports of a home invasion at the Jade Apartment Homes. A resident said he opened the door and Kemp pointed a gun at him and entered the home, police said. The resident managed to push Kemp out.

An officer drew his gun, according to testimony, but Kemp kept walking around a police car toward the officer while one of his hands was concealed. When police confirmed that Kemp did not have a weapon in his hands, one of the officers took him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Officers testified that Kemp also said something about Ingraham: "I killed him, I killed Ace."

Police officers also testified that they found a .40-caliber Glock pistol near a retention pond and they found a magazine for 9 mm bullets in a hallway. They did not find a 9 mm gun.

Kemp's mental health on the night of his arrest was a topic of testimony on Tuesday. Police body camera video showed Kemp yelling about Africa, swearing at police, and refusing to obey commands.

The defense is relying on an insanity defense. And Kemp's defense attorney, Richard Zaleski Jr., focused on Kemp's erratic behavior as he cross-examined officers.

Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant State Attorney Boone Forkner, focused some of her questions on how Kemp could provide his name and age and ask about the charges he faced.

Kemp acting 'crazy'

In her testimony, Ingraham's sister, Ladoris Giles, said the last time she spoke to her brother was the night of the murder. She lived in Clearwater, but they were playing a video game online together.

She said her brother lived alone, but he let Kemp, his friend, stay with him for several months before asking him to move out.

Paden had arrived a couple of days earlier from Palm Beach County.

She said she heard her brother’s dog, Eve, start barking and her brother went to the door and saw it was Kemp, saying it's "Day-Day," Kemp's nickname. He let him in.

She said Kemp was acting strange.

“Damon was acting real crazy,” Giles said. “He was acting real weird. He kept telling my brother ‘I love you’ … he was pacing back and forth. He had never acted that way.”

She said she and her brother stopped playing the online game and her brother said he would speak to her in the morning.

During cross-examination, Zaleski asked her if her brother owned a gun. He did, she said, and believed it was a 9 mm.

Thomas then briefly questioned her again, asking her how long before the murders had her brother asked Kemp to move out.

She said it had been “a few days” before the murders.

The trial continues on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former Bethune-Cookman student's murder trial underway in Daytona Beach