Gilbert man sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for fatally shooting his stepfather on Christmas Day 2022
A man was sentenced to 27 years in prison for fatally shooting his stepfather in Gilbert on Christmas Day 2022, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced Friday.
Michael Trevlyn Kaser, 49, received a sentence for second-degree murder in the shooting death of his stepfather, 80-year-old Michael Kinney, the County Attorney’s Office wrote in a Friday press release. Court documents stated that Kaser alleged his stepfather had emotionally and physically abused him and his mother for decades.
According to court records, Gilbert police initially found Kinney with two gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat of a car. This occurred after they received reports of a suspicious vehicle backing into a house near Recker and Warner roads. Despite officers' efforts to perform CPR on Kinney, who was unresponsive, he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.
Kaser then exited the house and said, “I killed my stepfather,” and “I should have killed him a long time ago,” according to court documents. When police arrested him, Mitchell’s office wrote that he “callously” made numerous statements claiming he murdered his stepfather and “hoped he was dead.”
Prior to Kinney’s murder, he and Kaser had been arguing in the car on the way back from a Christmas dinner, according to their family. As Kinney pulled the car into the garage, Kaser left and walked to the front of the vehicle before shooting his stepfather through the windshield with his mother still in the car, the County Attorney’s Office wrote.
Police later discovered that the car’s windshield was “riddled” with bullet holes and found dash cam footage from the car depicting the shooting, Mitchell’s office stated.
“This individual showed no remorse for his actions — he wasn’t worried about shooting his mother who was also in the vehicle, he didn’t provide aid to his stepfather but instead continually rejoiced about what he’d done,” Mitchell stated. “This disregard for life will not go unpunished. He will be in prison for a very long time.”
Kaser allegedly said he had thought about killing Kinney for 20 years, according to court documents. When the shooting happened, Kaser was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, court records stated.
Kaser entered a guilty plea for second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on March 22 of this year. According to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, his official sentencing included 25 years for second-degree murder and 2.75 years for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Madeline Nguyen is a breaking news reporter for The Republic. Reach her at Madeline.Nguyen@gannett.com or 480-619-0285. Follow her on X @madelineynguyen.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Michael Kaser sentenced in Christmas 2022 murder of stepdad in Gilbert
