MINGO COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — Timothy Kennedy, the man accused of killing West Virginia State Police Trooper Sgt. Cory Maynard in an ambush, was charged with sexual assault and attempted murder in 2018, according to a criminal complaint.
According to court records, his first offense was at 19 years old. He was charged with consumption of alcohol by a minor, later dismissed, and driving under the influence, for which he entered a guilty plea agreement. Seven months later in December 2013, he was charged with a handful of misdemeanors including obstructing an officer, unauthorized acts/possession of regard to wildlife and unlawful methods of hunting. Kennedy pleaded guilty to possession of wildlife and unlawful methods of hunting; the other charges were dismissed.
Kennedy, then 24, of Matewan, admitted to having sex, and taking meth and prescription pills with a minor on Oct. 18, 2018, according to the complaint. He was charged with third-degree sexual assault and contributing to delinquency of a child. These charges were eventually dropped.
One day later, a complaint said Kennedy went to a person’s house with a firearm in a bloody sweatshirt. When law enforcement arrived, they asked Kennedy to put his hands. Kennedy then reached into his pockets and waistband.
Kennedy began fleeing on foot after an officer shot at him. Kennedy was arrested and was found to have a syringe and alprazolam, an anxiety medication. Officers later found a pistol and a magazine with eight rounds he had thrown into weeds while running away from officers, according to the complaint. In Kennedy’s vehicle, officers also found a clip for a semi-automatic pistol.
In 2020, Kennedy, then 26, was reported missing. He was later found 400 feet into a closed mine in a Gilbert area that had not produced coal since 2011. Rescuers found evidence of copper removal during their search. The Department of Health and Human Resources at the time said Kennedy had become lost after trespassing.
Kennedy, now 29, is accused of killing Sgt. Maynard with the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) and shooting another man.
He was arrested just before 11 p.m. on Friday, June 2 after an hours-long manhunt. He was found in a stolen vehicle, according to the WVSP. He was arraigned the following morning at 10 a.m.
The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation website lists his charge as first-degree murder. He is being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail without bond.
Friends, agencies and West Virginia officials have been sending condolences to Maynard’s friends and family. One man – Justin Marcum – told Nexstar’s WOWK that he had talked to Sgt. Maynard the morning before his death.
“He never met a stranger. If it was a homeless person, if it was an attorney if it was whomever, a school teacher, he also took time to say hi to people,” Marcum said. “His presence in the community as a law enforcement officer and just as a man, it’s going to be dearly missed.”
The West Virginia State Police said Sgt. Maynard, 37, was with the WVSP since Oct. 9, 2007. He was a tissue donor. He was married and had two children, 13 and 9, and was from Pike County, Kentucky.
“Cathy [Justice] and I share our deepest sympathies and our heartfelt prayers to all of Trooper Maynard’s loved ones and the entire law enforcement community of West Virginia for this tragic loss tonight,” Gov. Jim Justice said in a press release. Gov. Justice has issued all U.S. and West Virginia flags on State-owned facilities to be flown at half-staff in remembrance of Sgt. Maynard.
According to the WVSP in 2015, Sgt. Maynard was awarded the Lifesaving Award for saving a pursuit suspect’s life in January 2014. The pursuit suspect stabbed himself in the neck after he crashed his vehicle. Maynard applied bandages and pressure to save the man’s life.
As a result of the shooting, graduation activities at Mingo Central High School were postponed to Saturday at 10 a.m. in the school gymnasium, according to the county’s Board of Education Facebook page.
