Suspect Arrested In Dubuque Murder

Update 12/15:

During the first hearing for Romell D. Enoch in the Iowa District Court of Dubuque County on a charge of first-degree murder, Judge John Sullivan set Enoch at a $1 million bond and scheduled his next hearing for Thursday, December 22nd. Enoch will remain in Dubuque County Jail until his next hearing. County Attorney C.J. May III asked that Enoch stay in the Dubuque jail until his trial, as the prison where Enoch was serving 25 years for unrelated charges is five hours away. Sullivan said the matter would be discussed at a later time.

Original Story 12/14:

According to a released statement from the Dubuque Police Department, investigators have arrested a suspect in the July 2021 murder of 20-year-old Kylie Jo Duster of Dubuque.

Romell Davon Enoch, 23, an inmate at the Clarinda Correctional Facility in Clarinda, Iowa was taken into custody by DPD Investigators today at the Clarinda Facility. Enoch will be booked into the Dubuque County Jail on charges of murder in the first degree.

On July 28th of 2021 Dubuque Police officers conducted a welfare check on Kylie Duster at her apartment in the 600 block of West 11th Street in Dubuque after she had not been heard from by family members since the 25th of July. Duster was found deceased inside her apartment. The State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Duster and determined her manner of death to be homicide by suffocation.

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Following a 16-month investigation, Dubuque Police Investigators; in collaboration with the State of Iowa Attorney General’s Office, the Dubuque County Attorney’s Office, and criminalists from the State of Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, developed evidence and information about Duster’s death that led to Enoch’s arrest.

Enoch will be making his first court appearance tomorrow (12/15) morning. Murder in the first degree is a class “A” felony punishable by life in prison.  As with any criminal case, the charges filed are allegations and any suspects are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law. If you have any information on this incident or others, please call the Dubuque Police Department at 563-589-4415. You can also submit tips anonymously online at www.cityofdubuque.org/police.