A pair of brothers have been arrested in the July 1 shooting death of a woman believed to be the wife of one.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office has arrested Kaylan Vega, 24, and charged him with first-degree murder of a 20-year-old woman at the Red Carpet Inn on West U.S. Highway 192. He's being held at the Osceola County Jail on no bond. His brother, 20-year-old Kysean Francis, was arrested for tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact and is being held in Seminole County, where he was arrested.
Surveillance footage showed the victim going to a nearby McDonald's at noon that day, returning to the hotel room 30 minutes later, and is not seen again. Footage also showed Vega and Francis leaving the room around 4:22 p.m. carrying three bags of luggage from the room. Phone records showed that Francis made a 911 call, identifying himself as John Blake, and told a dispatcher the incident happened in another room.
According to a detective's report, deputies responded to the hotel at around 5:40 p.m. and a man, later identified as Vega, was screaming, "My wife, my wife," and stated his wife was in a room and was hurt. Deputies investigated the room and found a female covered in blood from a head injury.
When Vega was questioned at a Sheriff's substation, the report stated, his "emotional state would not allow him to speak at all."
Francis was found in Seminole County on July 2, detained and interviewed, when he told investigators Vega shot the victim after they argued and she began waving around a knife and told the men not to touch her. He later heard a gunshot, saw the victim fall to the floor, and Vega holding a gun. They then took the gun and all belongings, left the hotel and made the fake 911 call. Francis also admitted he threw the gun in a body of water near the Walmart at Bass Road and 192, per the arrest affidavit.
A press conference meant to announce the arrests was canceled Wednesday after a relative was unable to appear, according to a Sheriff's spokesperson.
Vega had been arrested in February 2020 in connection with a shooting at an Orlando hotel shooting. He was on probation for that shooting, and was charged with violation of probation in the Kissimmee shooting for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
