St. Pete ‘drug house’ owner arrested after being shot during botched robbery: Police
A police car sits outside a St. Petersburg duplex where a deadly shooting took place on April 15, 2026.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The owner of a ‘drug house’ in St. Petersburg has been arrested nearly a month after being shot during a botched robbery that claimed the life of one of the robbery suspects and landed a second in jail, according to police.
St. Petersburg duplex shooting
The backstory:
According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, John Knight and Ronnie Dials entered Darren Kegler's duplex on April 15, 2026, with the intention of robbing Kegler.
Police say Kegler was operating a drug house.
Dials and Kegler, according to police, were shot during an altercation at the residence.
Dials died at the scene.
Kegler was treated for injuries at an area hospital.
Two days later, Knight was arrested for first-degree murder, attempted felony murder and felon in possession of a firearm.
John Knight was arrested in April in connection with the deadly shooting. Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Drugs Found in Car
While investigating, detectives said they found one kilo of cocaine in Kegler’s car, 463 grams of cocaine in his second vehicle and 173.8 grams of cocaine in his kitchen.
Kegler arrested
On May 12, Kegler was taken into custody.
He was charged with three counts of trafficking in cocaine and has a warrant for his arrest from Orlando for conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the St. Petersburg Police Department, who provided details on the shooting investigation and resulting drug charges, as well as arrest records related to the case.