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As deputies search for shooter, friends mourn life on rebound

Friends say the victim was trying to leave behind a troubled past and "get on his feet."

By CARRIE RITCHIE
Published June 5, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Deputies say Daniel Russell Keller died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen Saturday.

ZEPHYRHILLS - At 21, Daniel Russell Keller was trying to turn around what had already been a rocky life.

But he died on a roadside near a Baptist church early Saturday, killed by a gunshot. Pasco deputies are searching for the shooter.

Those who knew him say Keller was trying to build a better life, trying to bounce back from a sexual assault charge when he was 15 and other run-ins with the law, charges that included forgery and burglary.

Keller today, his friends say, was a caring young man dealing with a bad rap.

"His heart was so big, he'd do anything for anybody," said Ricky Anderson, with whom Keller had lived for about six months before to his death. "He'd give you the shirt off his back. He was that kind of kid."

Anderson and his fiance, Mona Jackson, had taken Keller in at various times throughout his life. Jackson said Keller didn't get along well with his immediate family because of his criminal history, but said she and Anderson always treated him like one of their own.

Between the two of them, the couple have four children, and Jackson said Keller was like a brother to them.

Jackson said Keller often tossed a football with Anderson's 11-year-old son, Ethan, and enjoyed doing "family things" like going to the local Dairy Queen for ice cream.

Keller, a graduate of Wesley Chapel High School, was looking for a job and "trying to get on his feet," Jackson said. She said he had previously held construction jobs, like laying floors.

She said he was also trying to get back together with his girlfriend. The night he died, Jackson said, Keller told her he was going to walk to the mobile home where his girlfriend lived.

That was at 3 a.m. Investigators found his body about a half-hour later on Stewart Road, less than a mile from where he'd started. He was dead of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

As deputies continue their investigation, Keller's friends are left to mourn.

"He was just a good kid and he didn't deserve what he got," Jackson said.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Carrie Ritchie can be reached at critchie@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 4, 2007, 22:30:25]