Man who killed mother testifies in former partner’s trial
A Colorado Springs man who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the murder of his mother testified that his partner at the time, Cohen “Vinn” Heath, used the unhealthy relationship they had together to push the then 16-year-old into stabbing his mother to death.
Heath, 21, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Bridget Kenner, a COVID-19 nurse found stabbed to death in her home April 28, 2020. Heath, a transgender woman, also is facing two tampering charges, one related to acts she allegedly engaged in following Bridget Kenner’s murder.
Emma “Kenny” Kenner, now 18 and who identifies as a man, was sentenced in January to 40 years in prison. Kenner in October pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea bargain with 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office prosecutors, which also required him to provide a statement on what happened the morning he killed his mother.
In a move which he said wasn’t required in the agreement, Kenner testified Tuesday in Heath’s trial, largely laying blame for the idea of the murder on Heath. The killing, Kenner said, was partly motivated by a loose plan to sell his mother’s belongings and make off to Texas.
“I didn’t want to, but I knew it would make Vinn happy, so that’s what I cared about,” Kenner testified, adding he felt he was in love with Heath at the time and that she told Kenner if he did it, “she would be proud of me.”
Kenner said Heath pushed him to commit the murder, which he said was first brought up by Heath around the beginning of April 2020, by getting upset and ignoring Kenner when he failed to follow through, setting deadlines, and telling him he would “be a man” if he did it.
“I thought Vinn was going to leave,” Kenner said about the consequences he thought he would have faced if he hadn’t killed his mother.
Kenner added that he told Heath to “put it all on me,” believing he would face the consequences of a juvenile and that Heath, then 19, could be treated as an adult. Kenner was sentenced on Jan. 7, two weeks after his 18th birthday, according to court records.
After the murder, Kenner said Heath went through his mother’s things, saying she took clothes and that he later recognized some of his mother’s rings in photographs from when they were detained later that day near a 7-Eleven. Kenner added that Heath used several items from around the house to and cover and conceal Bridget Kenner’s body.
Kenner also said that shortly after his mother died, Heath asked for permission to engage in necrophilia, which Kenner said he filmed.
Defense attorney Jennifer Cox grilled Kenner about alleged conversations about necrophilia with unidentified individuals on a chat application known as Discord, which Kenner said he didn’t think he participated in, but also said that was the humor he had with those individuals and that the comments weren’t “real.”
Cox also addressed a disconnect between Kenner and his mother he said stemmed from allegations he suffered abuse from a family member for years, allegations he confirmed Tuesday went unreported by Bridget Kenner after he confided them to her.
Kenner said his mother was likely the person he was “closest to,” adding that the disconnect wasn’t as much in play before December 2019, also around when Heath moved in. He resoundingly confirmed to prosecutor Rachael Powell that he wouldn’t have killed his mother if he never met Heath.
Emma “Kenny” Kenner, 18.
Cohen “Vinn” Heath, 21.
