The family of a three-year-old Ethiopian refugee stabbed to death in 2018 have called for the perpetrator to face the death penalty after he pleaded guilty to murdering her and wounding eight others, including five children.
Timmy Kinner, 33, has admitting carrying out a stabbing rampage in the Wylie Street Station apartments in Boise, on June 30 2018.
On Tuesday, Kinner pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder, eight counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of use of a deadly weapon, Ada County Prosecutors office said.
Relatives of those killed or wounded in the attack have called for Kinner to face the death penalty.
Anmar Lafta said: ‘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… They’re not adults, they hadn’t seen life yet. They ran away from war to come here, and look what happened to them’, Lafta told the Idaho Statesman.
Kinner attacked the outdoor birthday party of Ruya Kadir, who died from injuries from the attack two days later. Five other children were badly injured, along with the three adults who tried to protect them.
Timmy Kinner, 33, has pleaded guilty to several crimes, including first degree murder, after he allegedly killed a three-year-old girl and wounded eight others in Idaho in 2018
Ruya Kadir was stabbed, and later died from her injuries, at her third birthday party in Boise, Idaho
Court records show the guilty plea was part of a plea agreement, but it remains unclear what the terms are and if they preclude Kinner from facing the death penalty.
Kinner’s plea means he will not appear for a jury trial, which was expected to take place in September.
Instead, he will now be sentenced by the court on June 10.
Kinner’s decision to plead guilty will prevent victims from having to relive the stabbing attack in front of a court as part of a lengthy trial.
Relatives of those killed or wounded in the attack have called for Kinner to face the death penalty (pictured, Bifituu Kadir, who lost her only child int he attack)
Kinner’s decision to plead guilty will prevent victims from having to relive the stabbing attack in front of a court as part of a lengthy trial (pictured, Ruya Kadir, 3, who was killed in the rampage)
Alex Mutlak, the brother of Mustafa Mutlak, whose wife and two children were injured in Kinner’s rampage, said they were ‘relieved’ by the guilty plea.
Alex said the family were hoping for justice because it ‘was terrifying to see a grown man attacking kids at a birthday party’.
He said: ‘We just want everybody to be safe, because the crimes he did against kids are horrible…We just wish that justice will take place and we pray for his soul to be forgiven by God.’
He also thanked the police department and justice system for making the family feel safe in their homes after the attack.
Court records show the guilty plea was part of a plea agreement, but it remains unclear what the terms are and if they preclude Kinner (right) from facing the death penalty
Kinner’s plea means he will not appear for a jury trial, which was expected to take place in September. Instead, he will now be sentenced by the court on June 10
The 33-year-old’s trial was delayed in 2018 after he was declared mentally unfit to face the court and remanded in a mental health facility.
But, arguments by the defense that Kinner’s ‘mental conditions meant he was unable to defend his decision making were ruled out October 2019 and Kinner was declared able to stand trial.
Kinner moved to Boise from Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2018, several weeks before the attack took place, according to the Statesman.
Police say Kinner had been asked to leave the apartment complex a week before the attack, because of bad behavior.
He was arrested shortly after the stabbing. Investigators recovered the knife he was believed to have used in a nearby canal.
Kinner has a lengthy criminal record. He has served prison time in Kentucky and has been arrested for ‘violence against others’ in the past.
Police said Kinner did not know the victims and that there was no evidence the attack was a hate crime.
Many of those he attacked were refugees who had moved to the US after escaping violence in their home countries.
Kadir and her family had fled violence in Ethiopia and travelled to the US in December 2015. Other victims of the attack had come to the US from Syria and Iraq.
Kinner was reportedly made homeless a week before the rampage when he was asked to move out of the apartment complex (pictured) where the attack eventually took place
Boise residents held vigils and memorials for the slain three-year-old in the days after her death, remembering Ruya as ‘an angel’ whose favourite colours were pink or purple
Boise residents held vigils and memorials for the slain three-year-old in the days after her death, remembering Ruya as ‘an angel’ whose favourite colours were pink or purple.
At a memorial, her mother Bifituu Kadir said: ‘She was my world. And if no one stopped me, I could talk forever about my Ruya.
‘She was a gift from God. … She came to us on her birthday, and she left on her birthday. Her name in Turkish means dream. And she came to us like a dream.’
Executive director of the International Rescue Committee in Boise, Julianne Donnelly Tzul, said: ‘Our heartfelt care goes out to the families who were impacted, and our gratitude goes to the Boise community who wrapped services and support around our Wylie neighbors in an extraordinarily difficult time’.
‘We, at the IRC in Boise, are grateful that the families who survived the Wylie mass stabbing attack will be spared the experience of reliving the incident with a lengthy trial. We once again thank the community for respecting the privacy of the impacted families.’
Alex Mutlak, the brother of Mustafa Mutlak, whose wife and two children were injured in Kinner’s rampage, thanked the police department and justice system for making the family feel safe in their homes after the attack
Police said Kinner did not know the victims. Many of those he attacked were refugees who had moved to the US after escaping violence in their home countries
