A grand jury has levied first-degree murder charges against the man police say shot three Midwest visitors to death outside a west Kissimmee home in January.
The Osceola grand jury handed down its recommendation against Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, 29, Thursday morning, the first step in Ninth Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell’s office determining if the state will seek the death penalty.
Bojeh arrested Jan. 17 by deputies called to reports of a shooting in the Indian Hill subdivision off Poinciana north of Old Tampa Highway. Three men were found shot to death in front of an Indian Point Circle home; they were later identified as Robert Luis Kraft, 70 of Holland, Mich., and Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, and James Puchan, 68, of Columbus, Ohio. Deputies "quickly located and detained" Bojeh, who lived next door to the property the three rented on vacation while visiting the Mecum Auto Auction, as their suspect.
Bojeh, who has had numerous other run ins with the law and was known as a "frequent flyer in the Sheriff's Office,” is scheduled for a competency hearing on Monday, April 20. Worrell said that hearing will determine Bojeh’s ability to stand trial, not his guilt or innocence. Court records show a doctor has been appointed to evaluate his competency.
“This is a constitutional safeguard. It is not optional. It is not political,” Worrell said Thursday. “It is required if the court determines additional evaluation or restoration is necessary. We will respect that process fully while continuing to prepare our case for trial.
“Our responsibility is to apply the law faithfully, to present the evidence and allow the court to make the determinations required under the law.
Shortly after the incident, the Osceola Sheriff’s Office noted the department received 41 calls for service to Bojeh’s address from September 2006 through April 2022. A number of them were made when he was a minor by his father stating that his son would not go to school or was being aggressive to his family.
"It was disturbing the peace kind of stuff," Sheriff Chris Blackmon said at the time. "He was known to the Sheriff's Department."
In May 2021, Bojeh was charged with attempted murder when police say he fired a gun at parked vehicles— at least one was occupied—at a West U.S. 192 Wawa parking lot. After over a year of medical evaluations to determine if he was competent to go through a traditional jury trial, Bojeh instead was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was forced to undergo outpatient mental health treatment. That treatment, which included medication, stopped in 2023 due to the cost going up.
Bojeh remains held in the Osceola County Jail on no bond.
