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DUANE BOURNEAuthorities add three felonies to the list after the man was arrested in the death of his 15-year-old friend in a car crash.
BROOKSVILLE - The Sheriff's Office has filed additional charges against a 24-year-old man arrested in connection with a string of robberies and the death of his teenage friend, authorities said.
In addition to murder and vehicular manslaughter charges, Kenneth D. Holland faces two counts of burglary of a conveyance and a count of commercial burglary, third-degree felonies that carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Holland was arrested Monday and charged with a range of offenses after authorities determined he was driving the car that crashed and killed 15-year-old Darius Lyles of Frederick, Md. Holland remained in custody at the Hernando County Jail without bail.
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Joseph Paez said Holland had befriended Lyles when he moved from Hernando County to Maryland during the last year. Holland returned to the area with Lyles and began what authorities called a 10- to 14-week crime spree.
Paez added that Lyles had run away from a juvenile facility in Maryland, but officials with the state's correctional agency could not confirm that.
However, Hernando sheriff's deputies were able to confirm what they had suspected: Holland had committed more crimes.
After he waived his Miranda rights following his arrest, Holland told sheriff's detectives about the events that preceded Friday's deadly crash, authorities said.
Those statements helped the Sheriff's Office in its investigation of a rash of incidents that began April 17, when Holland and Lyles allegedly smashed through the front door of a cell phone dealer on State Road 50 and stole $300 in cash and deposits from a drawer.
Four days later, Holland tried to burglarize a 1991 Fleetwood motor home, which was parked in a storage yard in the High Point subdivision, an arrest report said. After he unsuccessfully tried to pry open the door, Holland turned his attention to a 2004 Alfa Romeo motor home and broke a window, the report said.
He made off with about $12,000 worth of items that he later gave to other individuals, who pawned them, the report said. Authorities did not disclose whether Lyles accompanied Holland during the motor home burglaries.
On April 22, hours before Lyles was killed, authorities said Holland stole a Honda Civic from a man at a carwash on SR 50. Then about 9:50 p.m., Holland drove the stolen car to another cell phone store on Spring Hill Drive and threatened an employee with a golf club, the report said. The man wrestled the putter away from Holland, who ran to the car, where Lyles was waiting in the passenger seat, authorities said.
Minutes later, the suspects tried to speed off when they saw a Hernando patrol deputy driving in the opposite direction on Barclay Avenue, authorities said.
Holland lost control of the 2000 coupe on Barclay Avenue just north of Powell Road, the report said. When the deputy reached the scene, he found Lyles pinned under the car's roof.
Investigators later learned that Holland crawled past Lyles through a side window and hid in the woods. They tracked down Holland three days later when several witnesses implicated him in the crimes.
On Wednesday, Paez said the case has not been closed because investigators think Holland may have been involved in other incidents, including a residential burglary and gasoline theft. If more information is developed on those cases, Holland could face additional charges.
- Duane Bourne can be reached at 352 754-6114 or at dbourne@sptimes.com