Officials: Middletown man accused of killing roommates was awaiting deportation hearings

City of Middletown police say one of the victims was found inside the apartment and the other on the sidewalk.

Blaise Gomez

Apr 3, 2024, 8:39 PM

Updated 248 days ago

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News 12 has learned that a man accused of killing his two roommates in Middletown this week is a Haitian national who was awaiting deportation hearings at the time of the slayings.
The alleged killer, Kenol Baptiste, had allegedly been in the United States for eight months when police say he murdered the two men, who have not been identified.
“It was one of the most brutal murders that some law enforcement is reporting to us that they’ve seen,” says Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus.
Neuhaus says the 30-year-old is from Haiti and was awaiting federal immigration proceedings when he fatally stabbed the men at Eastview Condominiums on Ruth Court in Middletown on Monday.
City of Middletown police say one of the victims was found inside the apartment and the other on the sidewalk.
Neuhaus says the victims are also from Haiti.
“We don’t have any history, no background on these individuals,” Neuhaus says. “Who is monitoring them? That’s the problem.”
A man at the Ruth Court residence came to the door while News 12 was there on Wednesday but said he didn’t speak English and went inside.
Neuhaus, who just came back from a trip to the U.S. border with a group of county executives, says the victims were renting the apartment and that they were living there with a group of people.
“This is a failure on all levels of the federal government," says Neuhaus.
Orange County is involved in several ongoing lawsuits with New York City after the asylum city bused hundreds of migrants to several hotels in Newburgh last year. Before that, several planes carrying what federal officials said at the time were underage asylum seekers were seen flying into Orange County Airport and Stewart International Airport.
Authorities say Baptiste is in Orange County Jail on a deportation hold and is due back in court on Friday.