ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies arrested a man from Orlando on Sunday after they say he admitted to shooting his roommate in the face during an argument.
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According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call reporting a shooting just after midnight Sunday.
Deputies said the caller, later identified as 29-year-old Kempton Anthony Smith, told dispatchers that he killed his roommate.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Smith claimed he was “tussling” with his roommate and “had to commit homicide” in self-defense.
One team of deputies responded to take Smith into custody while other deputies went to the location he gave them, where they found the victim in the living room of the home, face-down in a pool of blood.
According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, the victim appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to his “facial region” but was still alive when Orange County Fire Rescue personnel arrived at the scene.
The victim, identified as Dylan Dempsey, was treated on-scene before being admitted into the Intensive Care Unit at Orlando Regional Medical Center, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said a man who witnessed the shooting told them he was drinking with Smith and Dempsey in the living room just before it happened.
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According to the Sheriff’s Office, the witness said Smith was already “playing with” two guns when he chambered a round in one of them.
Deputies said the witness told them that’s when Smith and Dempsey got into an argument “over a female,” at which point Dempsey attempted to show his phone to Smith to “explain his side of the story.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the witness said Smith told Dempsey his explanation “didn’t make sense” before pointing the gun at his head, firing one round.
A man deputies identified as a second witness told investigators Smith called him after the shooting and asked for a ride to the airport so he could “go to Mexico.”
The second witness told deputies he thought that was odd, but as they drove on State Road 408 toward the airport, Smith turned to him and admitted that he had just shot his roommate in the head.
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At that point, deputies said the second witness told Smith he should return home and report the incident to law enforcement.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, when investigators attempted to talk to Smith about what happened, he immediately asked to speak with a lawyer.
Based on the witness statements and Smith’s own 911 call, investigators said they found cause to charge him with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail on Sunday, and he remains there on a no bond status.
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