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Daytona Beach man convicted in 2019 kidnapping, murder

Daytona Beach man convicted in 2019 kidnapping, murder Azaz Felder, now 21, was just 19 years old in July of 2019 when investigators say he and four other men tortured Randy Mueller for several hours at his Daytona Beach apartment over missing marijuana before killing him. After a three-day trial, Felder was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One of five men arrested for a 2019 kidnapping and murder in Daytona Beach was found guilty by a jury Thursday.

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Aziz Felder, now 21, was just 19 years old in July of 2019 when investigators say he and four other men tortured Randy Mueller for several hours at his Daytona Beach apartment over missing marijuana.

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When Daytona Beach police went to Mueller’s apartment a few days later in response to a request for a wellbeing check, they found him face down on his bathroom floor, dead.

Investigators say Mueller’s hands were tied behind his back, there was a plastic bag over his head, and he had been shot in the head.

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“Felder kidnapped, tied up, beat, burned and shot our victim,” State Attorney R.J. Lariza said in a statement announcing the verdict. “There is no adequate punishment for such stark and merciless brutality.”

After a three-day trial, Felder was found guilty by a Volusia County jury of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was immediately sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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One of Felder’s four co-defendants, Dionysius Nicols, was convicted by a jury of the same charges back in November of 2022 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Another defendant, Julian Fadley, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm and kidnapping in March of this year and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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