Murder trial to stay in Boone County after concerns over racist Facebook comments

John Gentry’s murder trial will remain in Boone County, per a judge’s order, despite his lawyers’ worries that Facebook comments about the case, including calls for Gentry to be lynched, demonstrate county-wide prejudice.

Circuit Court Judge Richard Brueggemann denied Gentry’s request to move the trial to another county in an order filed last week.

Gentry, 37, is facing numerous charges, including murder, in connection with the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Tiffany Kidwell. His trial is expected to begin July 22.

Seating an unbiased jury would be ‘very difficult,’ researcher finds

His lawyers argued in court filings that numerous racist responses to a Boone County Sheriff’s Office social media post show that Gentry – a Black man accused of gunning down a white woman in front of their two children – won’t be able to get a fair trial.

While the post has since been removed, Brueggemann OKed a poll of the county’s population to gauge public opinion of the case ahead of trial, which was carried out by a market research and polling company that surveyed 399 Boone County residents.

Only 36 residents indicated they knew of Gentry’s case and more than half of those said they lean toward Gentry being guilty. Roughly 71% of the jury-eligible respondents were moderately or very negative toward Black people and the racial equity movement.

Mykol Hamilton, a researcher who prepared a report on the survey, wrote that “it would be at best very difficult to seat an unbiased jury in Boone County in the murder trial of John Gentry.”

However, Hamilton went on to say there was no evidence of a “strong guilty bias” against Gentry based on the survey results.

Brueggemann ultimately found that moving the case from Boone County would be “inappropriate.”

The judge said voir dire – a process of prospective jurors answering questions to gauge their impartiality – is the best way to sniff out whether pretrial publicity has tainted the community.

What is John Gentry accused of?

In October 2020, Gentry tailed 32-year-old Kidwell to her sister’s house in Walton and confronted Kidwell about seeing his children, investigators said.

Kidwell had an active domestic violence protection order against Gentry and tried to call 911 when Gentry allegedly shot her with a handgun. When deputies reached the home a short time later, Kidwell was found dead inside her vehicle parked in the driveway.

Gentry later told detectives that he shot Kidwell “until it was quiet,” believing he’d emptied the gun’s magazine, according to a criminal citation. Prosecutors said an autopsy showed she suffered 10 gunshot wounds.

Also shot was Gentry’s then-3-year-old son, who was sitting in the backseat of his mother’s vehicle. He was struck in the abdomen and flown to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where the child underwent surgery.

The couple’s then-6-year-old son was also present for his mother's killing but emerged unharmed. Video footage shows the couple’s older son running inside to look for help as his mother is shot to death, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said they plan to present evidence that the killing culminated from Gentry’s stalking of Kidwell, which was at least part of the reason Kidwell sought a protection order.

Prosecutors signaled their intent in January 2022 to pursue the death penalty, citing Gentry’s alleged killing of Kidwell while she had a domestic violence order in place as “aggravating circumstances.”

However, prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for the couple’s children not being called to testify at trial. If convicted, Gentry is still facing sentences of life without parole or 25 years to life.

Court records show Gentry is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: John Gentry trial to remain in Boone County after concerns over bias