BARTOW – A Polk County grand jury indicted three Alabama men Thursday in the robbery and shooting deaths of two Polk City housemates earlier this month.

The grand jury decided the allegations against Darril Lamar Rankin, Gerjuan Demarcus Jackson and Kenley Campbell were strong enough to move forward with prosecution.

Prosecutors argued that Jackson, 18, had met William Reiss, 68, shortly after Hurricane Irma came through in September. Jackson was assessing storm-damage claims for Vanguard Emergency Management, a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor.

When they met, Jackson discovered Reiss was a private gun dealer and had a couple dozen guns in his Polk City home. Two weeks after their initial meeting, Jackson came back and bought two .45-caliber handguns from Reiss for $800, according to Polk County Sheriff’s Office reports.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Jackson returned to Mobile, Ala., and told Rankin and Campbell, both 22, about Reiss and his gun collection, and the three hatched a plan to steal the firearms. Jackson also talked about killing Reiss during the robbery, reports state.

On Jan. 3, Jackson went to Reiss’ door while the others waited in the car, the reports said. Detectives said it appears Reiss invited Jackson into his home at 7462 Berkley Road.

Reiss died during the robbery after he was shot four times in the head and once in the hand with a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun, deputies reported.

Deputies reported that Kenneth Maier said he heard the gunshots that killed his friend and he ran into the living room. There, he was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder. He made it out the door, and passersby found him near the roadside and called for help.

Maier, 57, lived for nine days before dying of his gunshot wounds Jan. 12.

Deputies say the suspects took Reiss’ pickup truck when the stolen goods, including a flat-screen TV and a collection of firearms, wouldn’t fit in their Chevrolet Sonic.

Detectives used surveillance video to track the movements of the vehicles, and later linked the Sonic to Campbell, who owned the car. Rankin and Campbell were arrested Jan. 6 in Mobile and later confessed to their involvement in the robbery, including identifying Jackson as the shooter, according to Sheriff’s Office reports. Jackson, who was arrested three days later, also confessed and admitted to firing the fatal gunshots, the Sheriff's Office said.

All three remain in custody in Alabama pending extradition to Polk County.

Each of the three defendants was indicted Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder, 13 counts of grand theft of a firearm and one count each of burglary while armed or with an assault or battery, robbery with a weapon and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Jacob Orr said it hasn’t been determined whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the murders.

Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.