Verdict delivered in trial of woman who encouraged partner to kill his mother
A jury found Cohen “Vinn” Heath, charged with first-degree murder among several other charges, guilty on all counts Friday afternoon after roughly four hours of deliberation.
Heath, 21, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of COVID-19 nurse Bridget Kenner, found in her Banning Lewis Ranch home April 28, 2020, after she failed to report to work that morning. Her transgender son, Emma “Kenny” Kenner, pleaded guilty to the stabbing and was sentenced to 40 years in prison Jan. 7.
“We’re happy for the victim’s family, the community,” prosecutor Ben Hostetter said. “Justice was served today,” lead prosecutor Rachael Powell added.
Heath, a transgender woman, was on trial for first-degree murder under the complicity theory, a legal theory that holds people accountable for a crime another committed if the defendant is found to have intentionally encouraged or helped the planning or commission of that crime.
She also faced felony murder, robbery and two counts of tampering, one specifically involving a corpse stemming from acts committed shortly after the murder that were recorded by Kenner.
Heath was found guilty on all counts, with the highest charge — first-degree murder — carrying a mandatory term of life in prison. Sentences were not handed down by 4th Judicial District Judge Jill Brady on Friday, pending further charges against Heath.
The case was handed to the jury after 10 a.m. They delivered a verdict roughly four hours later.
During closing arguments Friday morning, Hostetter restated the office’s claim that Heath, who moved in with Kenner and his mother in December 2019, manipulated him into killing his mother through encouragement and withheld attention when Kenner failed to follow through.
“Manipulation … is the weapon that Cohen Heath used to get Kenny to kill his mother that night,” Hostetter said. “Kenny murdered his mother, yes, but he didn’t do it alone — he wouldn’t have done it without the planning and encouragement of Cohen Heath.”
Defense attorney Tracey Eubanks during her closing arguments highlighted the difficulties Kenner faced during the late summer and fall of 2019. That is when he’s said to have drafted a letter containing graphic, homicidal statements toward nondescript individuals, in arguing that Kenner decided to kill his mother himself, and that the district attorney’s office had proven Heath was an accessory in the murder.
In her rebuttal to those closing arguments, Powell questioned why Kenner didn’t kill his mother in 2019 — saying that while he was going through a difficult time, he was “hanging on by a thread,” and only committed the murder after four months of Heath being the main person he had contact with.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors displayed video and photo evidence taken by Kenner directly following his mother’s death and brought Kenner himself forward to testify against Heath about her encouragement in the killing.
They also presented physical evidence, including a pink sports bra linked to Bridget Kenner that Heath was wearing when arrested by police, as well as analysis indicating Heath’s, Kenner’s and his mother’s DNA on the hilt of a bloody Rapala fishing knife found in the home.
Cohen “Vinn” Heath
Emma “Kenny” Kenner
