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Murders of Trey Ingraham and Jordan Paden

On Friday, December 7th, 2018, at around 2 am, police responded to Jade Park Apartments in Daytona Beach, Florida, to investigate an attempted home-invasion call. The victim claimed that a man in a lime-green shirt knocked on his door, and after he opened it, the man armed and tried to force his way inside. The victim said he pushed the back into the hall and closed the door, NewsDaytonBeach reported.

Police encountered 19-year-old Damon Kemp in the parking lot near Building 3, he was wearing a lime-green shirt. He screamed, “Fuck you,” then he charged at them with his hands in his shirt. As the officers detained him, he wouldn’t follow orders, he swore at them, and he kept yelling stuff about Africa.

They found a gun nearby. They assumed it was Kemp’s, and they believe it was the weapon he had pointed at during the attempted home invasion.

They detained Kemp on an armed burglary charge, but as he continued talking, they suspected a more sinister act had occurred. He stated, “I killed my friend.” At some point, he also stated, “I killed him; I killed Ace.” A witness also told police that he heard a man in a lime-green shirt outside his apartment taking on a phone and admitting he killed someone.

According to NewsDaytonBeach, Kemp refused to reveal his address, but detectives later determined that he once lived at the apartment complex with Trey Ingraham. Fifteen hours after Kemp was initially arrested, police entered the apartment and found the bodies of cousins Ingraham and Jordan Paden, both 19 years old, in apartment 424. Both had been shot.

When authorities spoke to Kemp’s current roommate, he told them that he had dropped Kemp off at the complex on the night of December 6th. He also said that Kemp was acting “paranoid” and spoke of someone coming to “get him.”

Viral Court Appearance

Kemp seemed to be setting himself up for an insanity plea by his actions in his first appearance in the Volusia County Jail courtroom, where he was facing two counts of second-degree murder. According to MyNews13, he was brought into the proceedings while restrained to a wheelchair as he screamed, grunted, and yelled God’s name.

Ingraham’s sister couldn’t control herself and asked, “Why would you do that to Treay, Da-da.” On the other side, Kemp’s mother cried seeing the state he was in. She was heard saying, “Mommy’s here, mommy’s here,” but declined to speak to the media about the allegations against him.

Kemp was denied bond, WearTV reported.

Petition

Kemp’s mother launched a petition in February 2019, calling him “wrongfully accused of a crime I know he did not commit.” She complained of him being kept in solitary confinement and said, “HE HAS NEVER EVER BEEN IN TROUBLE IN HIS 20 YEAR OF LIFE.” She also posted her Cashapp tag, saying she was trying to raise $30,000 to get him a lawyer.

The petition collected 634 signatures and hundreds of comments with people supporting Kemp and speaking on what a good person they had known him to be.

Trial

Kemp received a lot of attention for his courtroom antics in 2018, but by 2023, people had forgotten about him, and the case wasn’t front-page news anymore.

According to the State Attorney, he went to trial in May 2023, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. After four days, a Volusia County jury found him guilty of two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm and burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery while armed with a firearm.

He was later sentenced to 3 life terms.