BOISE, Idaho, July 2, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Boise police said Monday that a 3-year-old girl, flown to a Salt Lake City hospital after she and eight people were stabbed at her birthday party, has died.
“It is with deep sorrow we share the news that she has passed away today,” Boise Police Department said in a news release Monday. The little girl’s name will not be released until additional family has been notified, police said.
The little girl was one of nine allegedly stabbed by suspect Timmy Earl Kinner during an outdoor birthday party in Boise Saturday night. Of the other eight, one child has been treated and released from the hospital. Seven others remain in the hospital, many with serious or critical injuries.
Six of the nine people stabbed are children whose ages range from 3 years old to about 12 years old, the police statement said. The other three victims are adults who tried to intervene to protect the children. All of the victims are from Syria, Iraq or Ethiopia.
Officers were dispatched at 8:46 p.m. on a call about a man with a knife at the apartment complex on Wylie Lane and State Street, an initial news release said.
When police arrived at the apartment complex, they found the suspect within a few minutes and took him into custody as he was heading north near the apartments.
Other officers located nine victims inside and outside of the apartments and immediately rendered first aid.
Kinner, 30, from Los Angeles, has been booked into Ada County Jail on nine felony counts of aggravated battery and six felony counts of injury to a child, according to a Sunday morning news release. He was due to be arraigned in Ada County Court Monday and charges may be amended now the 3-year-old child has died, officials said.
“This was an attack on those who are most vulnerable: our children,” Boise Police Chief William Bones said in a prepared statement. “It’s untenable, unconscionable and is pure evil in my mind.”
A preliminary investigation shows that the suspect met a person at the apartments where the attack occurred and stayed with that person for a few days within the last week. That person and additional neighbors became concerned with the suspect’s behavior and asked him to leave on Friday. He left peacefully.
The suspect then returned to the apartments on Saturday while the birthday party was underway.
Kinner has an extensive criminal history spanning several states. He has spent time in prison and his past does include violence against others, officials said. The suspect had only been in Idaho a short time and has no arrests in Idaho. He is not a refugee.
At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a hate crime, officials said. The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
“Boise is a welcoming city, we have been that way for generations,” said Mayor David Bieter in a prepared statement. “This callous act does not reflect our community.”
Boise Police victim-witness coordinators and counselors will be assisting the families and witnesses in the days and weeks ahead.
A candlelight vigil is being planned in honor of the victims on the steps of City Hall in downtown Boise on Monday night at 6 p.m.
Boise Police are asking anyone who has had contact with Kinner in recent weeks or months to contact Boise Police by calling Crime Stoppers at 208-343- COPS (2677), online here, or by leaving a tip using the “P3 Tips” app for your mobile device. The out of area number to call is 1-800-222-TIPS.
