Daytona Beach, FL – 2 Tampa men are now in custody for kicking a man to death in a Daytona Beach motel.
33-year-old David Almond and 32-year-old David A. Kepner were both arrested last week for second-degree murder in connection to the August 23rd death of Curt Zupancic, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
According to the arrest report, a witness told officers he and Zupancic were driving from Eustis to the Best Western motel on 2620 West International Speedway Boulevard on August 16th when Zupancic got a text from one of the suspects saying that they planned to kick him out of the motel room they planned on sharing.
Thinking the text to be a practical joke, both men arrived at the hotel around midnight and that’s when the witness told DBPD he saw Almond and Kepner attacked Zupancic as soon as he got out of the vehicle.
The witness claims both men kicked Zupancic numerous times – including in the head – as he lay on the ground and eventually stopped kicking him after the witness yelled at both of them to stop, per the report.
Officers believe Zupancic was unconscious at this point and the witness managed to revive him with some water and take him into another motel room. It wasn’t until the following morning when paramedics came to the motel and took Zupancic to the hospital.
DBPD says Zupancic needed emergency surgery once he got to Halifax Health Medical Center for his injuries and died from them 6 days later.
The arrest report shows the witness claiming that both suspects told him afterward to tell police Zupancic’s injuries were from a fall or else they would kill him. He also claimed that was the reason he didn’t go to DBPD until 4 days after the attack.
Investigators also think the suspects went through Zupancic’s wallet and cell phone soon after the attack, deleting all of the text messages and the call log.
An autopsy on Zupancic’s body 2 days after he died found that his injuries were consistent with being kicked and his death was ruled a homicide at that point.
Almond was booked at Volusia County Jail on August 27th while Kepner was booked the same day at the Hillsborough County Jail. Kepner was transferred to VCJ on Tuesday.
David Almond (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
David A. Kepner (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.