HAMILTON, Ohio -- Rebekah Kinner, charged with involuntary manslaughter in her 2-year-old daughter Kinsley's death, may enter a new plea soon, her attorney said Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Kinner, who gave birth to a boy last week at Atrium Medical Center in Middletown while she remains incarcerated, is also charged with permitting child abuse and endangering children.
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She's pleaded not guilty, but attorney Kyle Rapier said his client is looking at her options. Rebekah Kinner is scheduled to go on trial April 4.
Kinsley Kinner. Photo provided
"She felt like her whole world has been taken from her," Rapier said Wednesday.
The Butler County Prosecutor's Office is mounting a case that Kinner's boyfriend, Bradley Young, beat young Kinsley to death in early December and that Kinner did nothing to stop the abuse -- something Rapier disputes.
"It's being spun that she was just standing there and did nothing, and that's not her side at all," Rapier told WCPO last month.
Rebekah Kinner testified before a grand jury, something Rapier acknowledged is unusual for a defendant to do. But, he said, Kinner wants justice for her daughter and would like to testify at Young's trial.
Young, 27, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, two counts of endangering children and involuntary manslaughter. His trial is scheduled to begin April 25 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
Kinsley 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.
Kinsley Kinner shortly before she passed away. Photo by Scott Senft via Facebook
Kinsley suffered "contusions across her head and body, subdural hemorrhage, cerebral edema and diffused bilateral retinal hemorrhages, which ultimately caused her death," according to court documents obtained by the Journal-News.
Meanwhile, Rapier said Wednesday that the father of Kinner's new baby boy, a man he referred to only as "Jason," would like custody of the child. Jason is a friend of the Kinner family, Rapier said, and has two children from a prior marriage. Rebekah Kinner was ending her relationship with Senft when she had a relationship with Jason, Rapier said.
The newborn, named Wyatt Matthew Kinner, remains in foster care as a judge determines if any member of Kinner's family would be able to provide a suitable home for the child.
However, the process of establishing custody for Wyatt could move faster if Jason pays for a private DNA test to determine paternity, Rapier said.
