A Star case began as a suicide investigation. Now, a Nampa teen is charged with murder
Law enforcement had said they believed suicide had resulted in the death of a Nampa man found on a sidewalk in Star. Now, a Nampa teen has been charged with first-degree murder.
Charges for Dakota Travis Honeycutt, 19, were amended from homicide to first-degree murder in a preliminary hearing Monday. Honeycutt has also been charged with two other felonies, grand theft by possession and destruction of evidence.
Honeycutt was arrested in Nampa on Dec. 27 and initially charged with assisting in a suicide and destruction of evidence after a man was found dead in a Star park with what authorities described as a gunshot wound.
The amended charge comes after investigators collected evidence that Honeycutt allegedly planned the killing, according to an updated news release from the Ada County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 10.
Kevin Hunt, 48, was found on a sidewalk on the west side of Hunter’s Creek Park on Dec. 26, according to an initial news release from the Ada County Coroner’s Office. He was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m. that day.
Honeycutt, who was living at Hunt’s Nampa apartment, was arrested shortly after he was interviewed, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. He told investigators that he drove Hunt to the park on Christmas night and watched Hunt shoot himself at around 9 p.m., Star Police Chief Zachary Hessing said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Honeycutt told investigators that he threw the shotgun off the Star Bridge and into the Boise River, and a dive team found the gun — which is believed to be Hunt’s. He left Hunt at the park “and drove away without telling anyone what happened,” according to the news release.
His bail is set at $50,000, and as of Monday he is still in custody at the Ada County Jail.
Magistrate Judge Michael Lojek said Dec. 28 court filings indicated that Honeycutt has ties to Middleton. Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Heather Reilly added that Honeycutt has a “fairly recent” driver’s license from Tennessee and an address there dated to June 2020. Prosecutors are not aware of previous criminal convictions.
When asked by the judge how he was feeling, Honeycutt said, “my emotional condition is just really, really scared.”
Honeycutt’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 31.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 11:08 AM.
