News and Investigations

At 10:00 p.m. on Friday night, March 27, 2020, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a call in reference to a house fire at a residence on Royal Ridge Drive in unincorporated Davenport near Loughman. When first responders arrived, they discovered a recently extinguished fire contained in the master bedroom with two deceased victims inside, a man and a woman.
 
Deputies and Polk Fire Rescue personnel found a gas can and noted the strong odor of gasoline inside the residence. The deceased victims also had trauma to their bodies and there was blood at the scene. 
 
Deputies quickly learned that the suspect, Kenyatta Bellamy (DOB 08/08/69), had bonded out of the Osceola County Jail on March 24, 2020. His arresting charge was for failure to appear (FTA) for a DUI manslaughter case. He was charged with DUI manslaughter in Osceola in January 2018. It appears he was arrested on the FTA warrant in March 2019. 
 
“If this suspect had remained in jail where he belonged, these two victims would still be alive. We are still piecing together why, after spending almost a year in jail, he was allowed to bond out. This is an awful tragedy that should never have happened. These people were brutally murdered, and an 8-year-old boy is left without a mother. And according to Bellamy's criminal history this is the third separate event where he's caused someone's death.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
 
After bonding out of jail, Bellamy returned to his home where he allowed his girlfriend to live while he was in jail. He discovered another man living in the residence. He called his mother, who lives in Miami, and expressed his desire to take a bus to Miami to see her. His anger increased when he learned that, due to the COVID-19 virus, he would not be able to take a bus.
 
On March 27, 2020, Bellamy took the female victim’s young son (who calls Bellamy “daddy” though they are not biologically related) to family members and went out to run errands and get food with a cousin. He told the cousin he was upset about the male victim being in his (Bellamy’s) house. Afterwards he told his cousin to leave him at a WaWa gas station because he did not want to return back to the house on Royal Ridge. The cousin later drove to the Royal Ridge house. She knocked on the door, but got no answer. She then smelled smoke, and dialed 911 to report the fire. 
 
Upon Bellamy’s arrest, he told detectives that he’s allowed the female victim to stay in the house while he was in jail, and left her money with which to pay the bills. Unbeknownst to him she allowed the male victim to move in. He said on Friday he was outside pressure washing, and went inside, and discovered them having sex so he “lost it.” He used a hammer and a knife to kill the victims. They both have trauma consistent with those injuries. Autopsies will be done at a later date to determine their exact causes of death. 
 
Bellamy then lit a fire in the bedroom, and closed the door. The fire extinguished itself before first responders arrived.
 
Bellamy’s criminal history includes several felonies and misdemeanors. He was arrested by NYPD several times between 1993-2001 for manslaughter, robbery, assault, harassment, possession & sale of marijuana, larceny, and weapons charges. He was arrested by Osceola County S.O. in 2015 for armed robbery and petit theft; in 2017 by Clearwater P.D. for theft; and in 2018 by Osceola County S.O. for DUI manslaughter. 
 
Bellamy is being booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
·        2 counts first degree murder
·        1 count attempted felony murder
·        1 count arson
·        1 count tampering with evidence
 
He will be booked in later today and will have a new mugshot taken at that time.