BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio -- A Madison Township woman charged in connection with her 2-year-old daughter's death gave testimony to a Butler County grand jury because she wants justice to be served, even if it hurts her own case, her attorney told WCPO on Wednesday.
Rebekah Kinner, 23, was indicted Dec. 10 on charges of involuntary manslaughter, endangering children and permitting child abuse.
Her boyfriend, Bradley Young, 26, was indicted on charges of murder, two counts of endangering children and involuntary manslaughter.
Both pleaded not guilty.
Police said Kinner told investigators that Young shook and punched her daughter, Kinsley, in the head multiple times. The child then went in and out of consciousness and stopped breathing. Kinsley later died at a hospital.
"It's being spun that she was just standing there and did nothing, and that's not her side at all," Kinner's attorney, Kyle Rapier, told WCPO.
Rapier said his client's "biggest concern is to represent her daughter's best interest." He acknowledged it's unusual for a defendant to testify before a grand jury, "but from my conversations with her, she is not concerned about self-preservation."
He also said his biggest concern is for his client's unborn child, due in February.
"She is close to giving birth, and I don't want her stressed about the evidence that we have to go through," Rapier said.
Kinsley's father, Scott Senft, told WCPO he is the father of Rebekah Kinner's unborn child and would petition for custody. Senft said he hopes to name the baby boy Kingsley, after his sister.
On Tuesday, Butler County Judge Keith Spaeth signed an order releasing that testimony to both Kinner's and Young's attorney, the Journal-News reported. However, no specifics were provided about what Kinner said.
Documents obtained earlier this month by the Journal-News state Kinsley suffered "contusions across her head and body, subdural hemorrhage, cerebral edema and diffused bilateral retinal hemorrhages, which ultimately caused her death."
Both Kinner and Young are scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in Butler County Commons Pleas Court for a pretrial hearing.
Read more about this story at the Journal-News, a WCPO media partner.
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Journal-News reporter Lauren Pack contributed to this report.
