Jurors will see home where Kinsley Kinner was fatally assaulted

Defense attorneys Frank Schiavone III and Frank Schiavone IV requested that the jury physically visit the scene rather than rely on photos taken by investigators. The defense team said the jurors need to see for themselves the proximity of the rooms in the house as well as the garage.

The prosecution did not object and, during a pre-trial hearing today, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth granted the motion.

Spaeth also ruled the defense could have any statement given by co-defendant Rebekah Kinner, Kinsley’s mother, about the case. She pleaded guilty earlier this month to involuntary manslaughter and two other felonies for not stopping Young’s alleged abuse of her toddler and not seeking medical help after.

Kinner, who faces 25 years in prison, is the key witness in the case against Young. After her plea, a forensic evaluation was ordered in preparation of her sentencing on May 5. Young’s defense team wants access to any statements Kinner makes as part of that evaluation.

The Schiavones say Kinner’s seven statements so far are inconsistent.

Spaeth said the statement from Kinner as part of the mitigation report will be available to the defense if it exists before she takes the stand. But the judge said he will have to evaluate any confidential portions of the report first.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Prosecutors have filed court documents that they say narrows down the time frame of when Madison Twp. toddler Kinsley Kinner was abused and killed.

Bradley Young, 26, boyfriend of the 2-year-old girl’s mother, Rebekah, is charged with murder, felony endangering children and involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly beat the girl to death.

Rebekah Kinner, 23, pleaded guilty earlier this month to involuntary manslaughter, permitting child abuse and endangering children, counts that stemmed from not stopping the abuse and not seeking medical treatment of Kinsley after.

In January, county prosecutors filed a bill of particulars stating the assault on Kinsley occurred between Nov. 28 and Dec. 2. Young and Kinner were arrested Dec. 2 after the life squad and sheriff's deputies we're called to their Radabaugh Road home in Madison Twp. and found the toddler unresponsive and not breathing.

The new bill of particulars filed last week narrows down the window of the assault and murder from the evening hours of Dec. 1 through the early morning hours of Dec. 2, according to the document obtained by this news agency.

Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said the new bill of particulars was 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.

He added this defines in minutes and hours the allegations and the death of the child.

Attorney Frank Schiavone IV, who is defending Young along with his father Frank Schiavone III, said he believes the new bill of particulars will limit what evidence of an alleged pattern of abuse prosecutors can present at trial.

The prosecution indicated at a hearing last week some of its evidence includes that on at least one occasion, Kinner tried to intervene with Young’s discipline of her child and was assaulted herself, and Kinner and Young argued via text message about his punishment of Kinsley.

Schiavone IV said Kinner’s seven statements, including two days of testimony at grand jury, are “all over the place.”

The defense team filed a motion questioning Kinner’s competency because a forensic evaluation, which would include a psychological examination, was ordered last Friday after the plea. The defense also wants to review Kinner’s statements as part of that evaluation in preparation for trial.

The prosecution has released Kinner’s grand jury testimony, which totals 435 pages, to the defense. The Kinner evaluation was one ordered before sentencing to be considered as part of mitigation.

Butler County Judge Keith Spaeth ruled Kinner’s testimony could be included at trial and she was not incompetent based on just the ordering of the evaluation.

Young is scheduled to be back in court Wednesday morning for a pre-trial hearing.