A judge has denied a request to split up a civil lawsuit by the parents of a young girl stabbed to death in Boise two years ago while the suspect awaits his criminal trial.
Bifituu Kadir and Recep Seran filed the lawsuit against Timmy Kinner, as well as the property management company and owner of the apartment complex where the mass stabbing occurred in 2018.
The husband and wife say the defendants shirked their responsibility by not forcing Kinner to leave the complex, since he wasn’t a tenant. Police say a neighbor had been letting him stay there temporarily.
Prosecutors say Kinner slashed his way through the birthday party of three-year-old Ruya Kadir, killing her and injuring eight other children and adults.
Fourth District Court Judge Samuel Hoagland denied the request this month to let the civil case against the property management company and others go ahead until Kinner finishes up all of his criminal proceedings. Hoagland says this civil case would clearly threaten Kinner’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“Anything Kinner says or does in this case could significantly jeopardize his defense of his criminal case,” Hoagland wrote.
Kinner was only recently found to be mentally competent to stand trial in October. He faces the death penalty if found guilty in a trial that’s scheduled to begin in February 2021.
Still, Hoagland didn’t leave out the possibility that this could change at some point in the future. Even if Kinner is convicted, his appeals could stretch on for years – especially if jurors hand him a death sentence.
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