The ruling followed nearly three years of mourning, investigation and court proceedings in Mingo County.
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Nearly three years after Sgt. Cory Maynard was killed while answering a shooting call, a Mingo County jury convicted Timothy Kennedy and denied him mercy in the West Virginia trooper’s death.
The decision marked the strongest punishment path available in the first-degree murder case. Kennedy, 32, was found guilty of murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and disarming a law enforcement officer. By rejecting mercy, jurors left him facing life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced.
Maynard’s death began as a call for help in the Beech Creek area on June 2, 2023. A civilian, Benjamin Baldwin, had been shot. Troopers were sent into a rural part of Mingo County near Matewan, where narrow roads and wooded land shaped the police response. Maynard, 37, was at the end of his shift, but he chose to go. Trooper Jonathan Ziegler later testified that he tried to stop him, saying it was time to go home. Maynard said he was coming anyway.
The exchange became one of the most repeated moments of the trial because it showed Maynard’s final decision before the ambush. Ziegler said the two troopers told each other “I love you” before the response continued. Prosecutors then laid out what they said happened when Maynard reached the area. Kennedy, they said, shot him three times with a long gun, attacked him after he was down, took his service weapon and fled. Another trooper also came under fire during the same episode.
Baldwin’s role in the case did not end with the first 911 response. He survived the first shooting and later testified about his injuries. Prosecutors said Kennedy’s shooting of Baldwin set the whole chain in motion. Baldwin’s testimony helped explain why police were in Beech Creek and how the first victim’s injuries became part of the attempted murder counts. The jury convicted Kennedy of attempted murder tied to Baldwin, as well as another attempted murder count related to a trooper.
For Maynard’s family and fellow officers, the case moved through years of public grief before it reached a verdict. The governor ordered U.S. and West Virginia flags lowered after Maynard died. Troopers joined processions and memorials. Public officials described the killing as a line-of-duty death and praised Maynard’s service. Those reactions were not evidence in the trial, but they formed the background for a case watched closely by law enforcement across the state.
The court process took shape over many months. Kennedy was arrested the night of the shootings after an hourslong manhunt. He was later indicted on multiple charges. Pretrial hearings addressed what jurors would be allowed to see, including body-camera video that prosecutors said showed the ambush and attack. The defense also pursued arguments tied to venue and Kennedy’s condition. By the time the case reached trial in Williamson, the record included video, witness testimony, medical details and expert evidence.
Inside the courtroom, the defense focused on Kennedy’s drug use. Kennedy testified that he had used methamphetamine, had hallucinations and could not remember the shootings. He said he was horrified by what he later saw on video and wished he could change what happened. His lawyers argued that he lacked the mental state needed for first-degree murder. Prosecutors said the evidence showed intent. They pointed to Kennedy’s actions before and after the shooting, including the ambush, the beating, the taking of Maynard’s gun and the flight.
The jury also heard from witnesses who described Kennedy after he was captured. A medic, a trooper and a nurse testified that he appeared to act normally following his arrest. That testimony undercut the defense claim that Kennedy was so impaired that he could not form intent. The state did not need jurors to find that Kennedy was sober. It needed them to find that he acted knowingly and deliberately. The guilty verdict showed jurors accepted that argument. The no-mercy phase gave the jury a final task after it convicted Kennedy. In West Virginia, mercy can make a person convicted of first-degree murder eligible for parole after a long term. Without mercy, life means no parole. Jurors returned without granting mercy. That finding made sentencing largely a matter of imposing the formal punishment for the murder conviction and addressing the other counts tied to the Beech Creek shootings.
When the verdict was announced, troopers filled the courtroom. West Virginia State Police officials said they were grateful that justice had been served, while making clear that no verdict could remove the loss. Lonnie Faircloth, president of the West Virginia Troopers Association, said the outcome mattered to Maynard’s relatives, his friends, his fellow troopers and the community. Maynard was remembered as a husband, father and sergeant who went toward danger at the end of a shift.
In Mingo County Circuit Court, Kennedy’s sentencing was set for July 2026. The verdict left him convicted on every count and facing life in prison without parole for Maynard’s killing.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.