Six Cruise Passengers Arrested at Port Canaveral in a Single Day — One Wanted on Murder Charges

For most cruise passengers, disembarking at Port Canaveral means grabbing luggage, finding the car, and heading home. For six people on July 17, 2026, it meant being escorted directly to the Brevard County Jail.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that six individuals were taken into custody at Port Canaveral in a single day, each on outstanding warrants or probation violations. The arrests spanned multiple ships and multiple situations — from a man wanted in connection with a murder charge to passengers who simply forgot that their felony probation terms prohibited them from leaving the country in the first place.

The Arrests

The most serious case involved Martell Murray, 24, of Atlanta, Georgia, who was detained before he could board his cruise. Murray was wanted on a warrant for violating the conditions of his release on pending murder charges. He was booked into Brevard County Jail and held without bond.

His cabin mate, Kenderia Burney, 24, also of Atlanta, was arrested at the same time on a separate violation of probation warrant. Burney was also held without bond.

Two further passengers were arrested as they disembarked their cruise ship after a completed voyage. Veronica Hamlet, 38, of Tampa, Florida, was taken into custody on a failure-to-appear warrant. James Brewton, 66, of Allendale, South Carolina, was arrested on a violation of probation warrant. Both were released after posting relatively modest bonds — $1,000 for Hamlet, $500 for Brewton.

The sixth and seventh individuals — the Sheriff’s Office placed the total number of people involved across the day’s events at six, though some accounts reference additional detainees — were two passengers who had just disembarked from their cruise when deputies discovered they were on felony probation with restrictions preventing them from leaving the country. Their names were not released. In its Facebook post announcing the arrests, the Sheriff’s Office noted with characteristic bluntness that the two “will be enjoying a stay at their local lodge once their respective Probation Officers complete the necessary paperwork.”

Which Ships Were Involved?

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office did not specify which cruise ships the arrested passengers were traveling on. Port scheduling records show that Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wish, and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Glory were all in port at Port Canaveral on July 17 — meaning the arrested passengers could have been traveling on any of those vessels.

A Warning From the Sheriff

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey used the occasion to send a direct message to anyone considering passing through his county with an outstanding warrant — regardless of how they got there.

“Whether you’re from Florida or Alaska, if you come to Brevard County and break the law — or in this case have a warrant — you better believe that we will lock you up,” Ivey said.

The Sheriff’s Office added a pointed observation in its Facebook announcement: that the arrests were made regardless of whether the individuals were from Florida or anywhere else, reinforcing that cruise ports are not consequence-free zones where outstanding legal issues somehow don’t follow passengers aboard.

Not as Rare as You Might Think

Arrests at cruise ports are more common than many passengers realize. Law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over major embarkation and debarkation points routinely check passenger manifests or run warrant checks during the embarkation and disembarkation process, particularly at ports in Florida where coordination between local sheriffs, US Customs and Border Protection, and other federal agencies is well established.

What made July 17 at Port Canaveral unusual was the volume — six individuals taken into custody across a single day’s worth of arrivals and departures is a notable cluster even for a busy port. And the presence of a man wanted in connection with a murder charge among the group adds a dimension that goes well beyond the routine.

For the other passengers on those three ships who went home to their families and their regular lives that afternoon, the day’s events at the terminal probably went entirely unnoticed. For six people, the cruise ended very differently than it began.