MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The abuse that ultimately took Kinsley Kinner's life occurred sometime between the evening of Dec. 1 and the early morning of Dec. 2, according to court documents filed last week by the Butler County Prosecutor's Office.
Kinsley, 2, was not breathing when she was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center the morning of Dec. 2. Kinsley's father, Scott Senft, said his daughter had been on life support and met criteria to be declared brain dead in the state of Ohio. She died late the next day.
Prosecutors are mounting a case that Bradley Young, the boyfriend of Kinsley's mother, inflicted the abuse that led to her death. Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser told the Journal-News that the new court documents were filed after meeting with medical experts and narrowing down the time frame of the crimes.
“It distinguishes past alleged abuse from issues of causation,” Gmoser said.
Young pleaded not guilty to murder, felony endangering children and involuntary manslaughter.
Kinsley's mother, Rebekah Kinner, told investigators that Young shook and punched Kinsley in the head multiple times, and prosecutors accused her of doing nothing to stop the abuse. She pleaded guilty March 18 to involuntary manslaughter, permitting child abuse and endangering children. She faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for May.
Kinsley Kinner wasn't breathing when she was taken to Children's Hospital on Dec. 2. She died late the next day.
Prosecutor Mike Gmoser told the Journal-News that Kinner will be on his witness list for Young’s trial. She testified before a grand jury over the course of two days, and prosecutors have released all 435 pages of her account to Young's defense attorneys, Frank Schiavone III and Frank Schiavone IV.
Schiavone IV told the Journal-News that Kinner's statements are “all over the place.” The defense team filed a motion questioning Kinner's competency, the Journal-News reported; a forensic evaluation, which would include a psychological examination, was ordered last Friday after Kinner's guilty plea.
Schiavone IV also told the Journal-News he believes the documents outlining when the fatal abuse allegedly occurred will limit what evidence prosecutors can present at trial. According to the Journal-News, at a hearing last week, prosecutors indicated some of their evidence includes that Kinner tried at least once to intervene when Young was disciplining Kinsley and was assaulted herself, and that the couple argued in text messages about his punishment of the child.
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