Boise mass stabbing suspect was facing death penalty. With guilty pleas, is that the case?
Ada County prosecutors are no longer seeking the death penalty against a man who pleaded guilty last week to a stabbing rampage on June 30, 2018, at a child’s birthday party in Boise that killed a 3-year-old, court records show.
Timmy Earl Kinner Jr. pleaded guilty on March 30 to nearly a dozen felony charges, including first-degree murder and several charges of aggravated battery. With his pleas, Kinner admitted to stabbing nine people, many of them children, and killing Ruya Kadir, a 3-year-old girl who was celebrating her birthday the night of the attack.
According to a plea agreement signed by Kinner last month, prosecutors agreed to withdraw their notice to seek the death penalty, which was filed in October 2018. However, the plea agreement does permit prosecutors the opportunity to refile the notice if they see fit.
The most likely scenario is that Kinner, 33, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
At least one family member of a stabbing victim — the party was attended by refugees and their loved ones — told the Statesman that they wanted Kinner sentenced to death.
“What he did to children, to the family, he broke family hearts and he killed children. Those people should go to death without even thinking about it,” Anmar Lata said after Kinner’s guilty pleas. “… They’re not adults, they hadn’t seen life yet. They ran away from war to come here, and look what happened to them.”
Kinner was declared to be “dangerously mentally ill” and found to be unfit to stand trial in 2018. He was restored to competency in October 2019, moving the case forward.
The plea agreement signed last month likely means Kinner will be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
As long as a judge accepts the terms of the plea agreement, Kinner will be sentenced to two fixed terms of life in prison, to be served consecutively — one term for the first-degree murder charge and the other for an aggravated battery charge. The agreement also allows for the judge to determine the prison time on the remaining charges, though the terms will be consecutive.
The agreement also says that if the judge rejects the deal, Kinner would be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas. If Kinner were to try to withdraw his guilty pleas, prosecutors would be able to use any statements from the plea hearing or a plea advisory form at trial.
Kinner will be allowed to address the court during his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for June 10. If any of Kinner’s victims want a no-contact order, the plea agreement allows that to happen.
Also noted in the plea agreement is that Kinner may request to the Idaho Department of Correction that he serve his prison term in another state, and prosecutors would not oppose that request.
Kinner remains in the custody of the Ada County Jail, where he is held without bail.
This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
