Mom of man shot, killed by Homestead police, say attempts to get info have been rebuffed

For most of his adult life, 24-year-old Daniel Kempf has struggled with mental illness. Two months ago, Kempf, who suffers from schizophrenia, disappeared and left a note saying his intention was to kill himself. He showed up at home a week later unharmed, but an emotional wreck, his mother said.

So late last month when Kempf became unhinged at the family’s Homestead home, his mother Yaneitsy Rosete called police. She said he was terribly depressed, shaking and crying uncontrollably and she wanted to get him to a medical facility where he could be medicated and cool down.

Four hours later, Kempf was dead.

Police mum about what happened

In the 38 days since his death, police have offered little information. They haven’t said if any of the three Homestead officers who entered the home, shot Kempf. Though they initially claimed Kempf was armed, police haven’t offered proof nor have they said what type of weapon he allegedly wielded.

“I didn’t have any information on what happened to my son that day. Later that night, someone from FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] said, ‘Your son is no longer with us,’” said Rosete “I haven’t even heard yet that they shot him.”

Rosete said she first contacted a Miami-Dade missing persons detective at about 2 p.m. on Oct. 22 after her son started acting up. When the three Homestead police officers got there, her mother was at the home while Rosete was out. Police took the keys and asked Rosete’s mother to leave. She went to her home a block away and Rosete said she met her there.

Rosete said she ran back to her home at about 5:30 p.m., after her mother noticed a commotion down the street, sirens and lights and an ambulance.

“When I got there, the police said ma’am, you can’t pass,” said Rosete. “They didn’t even tell me my son was dead.”

Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said Kempf was threatening an officer with a knife when he was shot.

“After numerous commands to drop the knife, he made overt actions toward the officers,” Stahl said. “Unfortunately, she feared for her life and had to defend herself. The body worn cameras should corroborate that.”

Family sues over body-cam footage

Now, more than a month after his death, Kempf’s mother and family attorney Robert Pelier said law enforcement has rebuffed every attempt they’ve made to get information. They’ve ignored requests for any incident report. And they haven’t allowed the family or Pelier to view police body-cam footage that might shed some light on Kempf’s death.

Similar requests by the media have been denied. Homestead public information officer Eddie Rodriguez said all records created by Homestead Police have been passed along to the FDLE. Any documents or explanations now has to come from the state, he added. FDLE has refused to comment on the case.

Earlier this week, the family filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, demanding that Homestead Police provide them police body worn camera footage.

What little information the family has obtained about Kempf’s death has come from its own investigation. They know they called Miami-Dade Police missing persons at about 2 p.m., and that an officer there passed along their request to go to the home to Homestead police. They also know three Homestead police officers entered the home not long after, because they saw them on the Ring Camera by the front door.

They believe police used an electronic Taser on Kempf to subdue him because, Pelier said, the body had “prong” marks on it when the family viewed it at the morgue. Though they have yet to get a copy of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s report, the family knows Kempf’s head was injured and that the cause of death was homicide, because they saw the injuries and were told so by employees at the funeral home, Pelier said.

And they know that Kempf was killed in the home’s main bathroom because, “His brother told me there was brain matter all over the place and they actually had to pick it up,” said the family attorney, Pelier.

The lawsuit says police video of the incident could provide some much-needed information.

“The Plaintiff has a good faith belief that the body worn camera footage captures and depicts the activity and all persons involved up to and including the moment Daniel Allen Kempf was shot in the head and killed by the City of Homestead Police Officer(s),” the lawsuit reads.

Blame game

The shooting is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Homestead has not named the officers involved. Neither agency, Rosete said, has provided much help to the family.

“Homestead blames the FDLE. And the FDLE blames Homestead. I don’t have a police report. I don’t have any information on what happened to my son that day,” she said.

According to information gathered from the family members and Pelier, Kempf, who ran a security company in the upper Florida Keys with his older Tom Kempf, threatened to take his life in September. He left a note and some personal belongings in a box at a friend’s home in Kendall and disappeared.

Rosete said he reappeared at her home about a week later and had been terribly depressed since. Twice before he has been Baker Acted, or involuntarily committed to a medical facility, she said.

His symptoms began appearing in his late teens and he often doesn’t take prescribed medication. Rosete said since Kempf returned he’s been non-violent, but extremely sad — as he was on the day he was killed.

“He was depressed. He was upset. He had all the emotions at once,” said Kempf’s mom. “He was non-violent, just upset and depressed with himself. He was crying and having a meltdown.”