In the early hours of August 23, 2019, in a house near Boise State University, the life of 22-year-old Caucasian male Robert Eugene Skinner of Seattle came to a tragic end. Initially, the Boise police reported the incident as an unintentional, self-inflicted gunshot wound. Skinner, a club hockey player at the university, was with his friend and fellow student, Kyle Kelly, and others at Kelly's residence at the time of the shooting, which occurred around 2:45 a.m.
As the investigation
into the young man's death progressed, new information came to light that contradicted the initial assessment. Detectives from the Boise Police Violent Crimes Unit and the Boise Police Department Crime Lab determined that the fatal gunshot was not self-inflicted, as had been first believed. While the shooting was still considered unintentional, the circumstances pointed toward potential criminal charges.
After a nearly year-long investigation, the Ada County prosecutor reviewed the evidence and issued an arrest warrant for Kyle Kelly, who was 21 at the time. In July 2020, Kelly, a resident of Hampton Bays, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of his friend. Court proceedings revealed that on the night of the incident, Kelly, his roommates, and Skinner had been out drinking before returning to Kelly's home. It was there that Kelly accidentally shot Skinner in the neck.
