MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man accused of fatally stabbing a 3-year-old girl and seriously injuring at least eight others at a Boise, Idaho birthday party is from Memphis, according to relatives.
On Tuesday, Timmy Kinner’s family confirmed that the 30-year-old who has been charged as the man responsible for the deadly attack in Boise over the weekend is their relative.
They said Kinner left Memphis a few months ago to look for work in California. Shortly after that, he moved to Idaho for the same reason. He was reportedly staying with a woman at a Boise apartment complex but was asked to leave Friday after exhibiting odd behavior.
He reportedly returned the following day and began attacking those in the complex. Three of the stabbing victims were adults, the others children: the 3-year-old girl who died, two 4-year-olds, a 6-year-old, an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old.
WREG found Kinner’s family members at home in Orange Mound. They said he grew up there, went to Hamilton High School, but eventually got in trouble with the law.
“He’s a decent human being and I can’t believe what they’re accusing him of,” said his uncle, Floyd Kinner.
Family members said Kinner suffers from depression and can have mood swings but he’s never acted violent toward them.
“I am upset cause I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it,” he said, crying. “I’m sorry for what transpired but I don’t believe my nephew done it.”
Shelby County records show Kinner pleaded guilty to charges including drug possession with the intent to sell in 2015. The affidavit showed officers also caught him with a gun stolen during a burglary in Bartlett. He did not have a license to carry and was charged with possession of a weapon during commission of a felony.
He has a long criminal history in Shelby County, including additional charges of aggravated robbery in 2013, aggravated assault in 2012 and misdemeanor assault in 2014.
Relatives say he just got out of prison a few months ago and left for California.
“He say he go out and left and going to try to get a job,” said Kinner’s grandmother, Retha Kinner.
She said she spoke to her grandson about two weeks ago and he was still looking for work.
But he did not tell her what authorities say — that he’d been arrested for misdemeanor theft in Utah and served three days in jail.
Idaho authorities charged Kinner with first-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the Saturday night attack in Boise.
If convicted, Kinner could be eligible for execution under Idaho law. Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said her office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, saying those “high-level decisions” are made only after all she has more facts.
