PORT ORCHARD — The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office arrested Geraldo “Jerry” Castro De Jesus in connection with the murder of Heather Kelso, 29, and Kaden Lum, 2, at Kariotis Mobile Home Park.
“March 28, 2015, is a day the Kitsap community will not forget. Law enforcement will not forget,” Sheriff Gary Simpson said at a press conference at the Kitsap County Administration Building Aug. 20. “This is the day that two members of our community were murdered at their home.”
De Jesus, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.
“But today is not about him. Today is about two victims: Heather Kelso and 2-year-old Kaden Lum,” Simpson said. “We stand here in support of Heather and Kaden’s families and friends who are also victims of these crimes as they have to suffer through the next several months as we prepare for trial. Our entire community has been affected by these murders.”
Detectives arrested De Jesus without incident at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 20 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, his place of employment.
Det. Lt. Earl Smith said they suspected De Jesus almost immediately after the homicides, but felt they needed to provide prosecutors with as much evidence as possible.
“It’s been a very long, exhaustive investigation. It wasn’t one piece of investigation that led us to the arrest,” Smith said. “It’s kind of like a puzzle, if you will. A lot of pieces to it and we had to get all those pieces in place to paint a picture. We had to paint picture for the prosecutor’s office.”
De Jesus and Kelso have an infant child together. Smith said the child is being placed by Child Protective Services. The child was not with Kelso the night of the murders.
De Jesus is held at Kitsap County Jail on $2 million bail. He will be arraigned at Kitsap County Superior Court Aug. 21.
James Trammell, father of Kaden Lum
Kaden Lum’s father, James Trammell, spoke to members of the media following the briefing.
He said that although the arrest is comforting, it won’t bring back his son.
“It doesn’t change anything. Nothing’s gonna bring him back, but to know that (De Jesus is) not breathing the fresh air, or enjoying the Fourth of July he just had, or July 24 on Kaden’s birthday while he was out possibly spending time with his family, to know that he won’t have that again is pretty comforting,” Trammell said.
Trammell said he’s never met De Jesus, but has suspected him all along. He believes De Jesus wasn’t after Kaden the night of the murders.
“My personal opinion is that Kaden wasn’t intentional,” Trammell said. “Heather may be a different story but I don’t think Kaden was intentional.”
He said waiting for the arrest of a suspect has never left his mind.
“The first thing you think about when you wake up, the last thing you think about when you go to sleep,” Trammell said. “It’s like somebody’s just drilling into the side of your head.”
He’s tried to cope by immersing himself in work and with motorcycles.
“Work and motorcycles. That’s about it,” Trammell said. “Get up, go to work, come home, get on the bike, then when I get back at night go to sleep. Sleeping’s the only thing that turns my brain off.”
Kaden would’ve turned 3 on July 24. Trammell said his son loved playing outside and especially loved being with his mother.
“He was just an all-around good kid,” Trammell said. “I mean, everybody says that about their own kid but he wasn’t even old enough to know right from wrong.”
