Idaho judge gives N.Y. man year in jail in shooting death of Boise State hockey player

A New York man on Friday received a much lighter sentence than what prosecutors sought in the unintentional shooting death of a Boise State Hockey Club member in 2019.

District Judge Samuel Hoagland handed Kyle Kelly, 21, of Hampton Bays, a 10-year sentence but suspended prison time, according to a news release from the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. Instead, Kelly was ordered to serve a year in jail, with credit for 10 days served, and to perform 500 hours of community service.

Ada County prosecutors asked for a 10-year prison sentence, with a minimum of five years served before Kelly would be eligible for parole. Kelly pleaded guilty last October to involuntary manslaughter.

In August 2019, Kelly was responsible for the shooting death of 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” Skinner, a Seattle native. Police were dispatched at around 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 23 to a house on the 900 block of West Belmont Street, and officers arrived to find Skinner with a “life-threatening gunshot wound,” according to a news release from the Boise Police Department.

At the time, Kelly lied to law enforcement and said Skinner had shot himself, the prosecutors said. Evidence proved that could not have been the case, and Kelly eventually admitted to the shooting. He was charged last July.

“I send my sincere condolences to the Skinner family,” said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. “I am grateful for their patience as they navigated this difficult court process and more importantly, their devastating loss.”