Kelling convicted of murder in death of St. James City man
Brant Dustin Kelling has been convicted of second degree murder in the death of a man in St. James City, the State Attorney’s office announced Monday. The jury returned a guilty verdict Friday evening following a five-day trial in Lee County.
Assistant State Attorneys Brenda Wade and Leena Marcos of the State Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit prosecuted the case.
The crime was discovered on Aug. 10, 2023, when the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a home in St. James City. A woman there had found her friend, bloody and unresponsive, laying on the lanai of the home. He died at the scene.
LCSO’s report indicated there was a large amount of blood in the driveway of the home and visual injuries of trauma on the
victim, who was not clothed. According to the medical examiner, the cause of the victim’s death was found to be blunt force trauma to the head.
Kelling, 34, then a resident of Curlew Drive in St. James City, was identified as a suspect through a DNA profile match, according to an August 2023 report from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect had been arrested on outstanding warrant charges in Ohio.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2026.