Jurors heard testimony about a final exchange before Sgt. Cory Maynard went to Beech Creek.
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The last words between two West Virginia troopers became a central moment in the murder trial of Timothy Kennedy, who was convicted in the ambush killing of Sgt. Cory Maynard in Mingo County.
Jurors found Kennedy guilty after hearing how Maynard went to the Beech Creek area even though his shift was ending. The trial centered on a narrow question with major consequences: whether Kennedy acted with intent when prosecutors said he shot Maynard, attacked him on the ground and fled with the trooper’s gun. The jury answered by convicting Kennedy of first-degree murder with no mercy and four other felony counts.
Trooper Jonathan Ziegler’s testimony gave jurors one of the clearest pictures of the minutes before the fatal shooting. Ziegler said he was heading to a reported shooting on June 2, 2023, when Maynard said he would also respond. Ziegler told him it was time to leave work and go home. Maynard did not accept that. “No, I’m coming,” Maynard told him, according to Ziegler’s testimony. Ziegler said the two men ended the exchange with “I love you” before troopers moved toward the call. The call involved Benjamin Baldwin, who had been shot in the Beech Creek area near Matewan. Baldwin survived and later testified at Kennedy’s trial. He told jurors about the injuries he suffered and the long recovery that followed. Prosecutors said Kennedy shot Baldwin first, drawing troopers into the area. Maynard and others arrived to respond to that violence, not knowing prosecutors would later describe Kennedy as hidden and waiting nearby. The first shooting became the start of the case that led to Maynard’s death and Kennedy’s convictions.
Maynard’s arrival changed the case from a shooting investigation into a fatal attack on a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors said Kennedy fired three times at Maynard with a long gun. Ziegler told the jury Kennedy then stood over Maynard and struck him. The state also accused Kennedy of disarming Maynard and taking his service revolver before leaving the scene. Another trooper was fired on during the same chain of events. The charges tied those acts together: murder, two attempted murders, robbery and disarming an officer.
The defense did not deny that the scene was violent. Instead, Kennedy’s lawyers focused on his mental state. They told jurors he was addicted to drugs, had used methamphetamine and was having hallucinations. Kennedy took the stand and said he could not remember much of what happened. He said he was stunned when he later saw video of the attack and said drugs had ruined his life. His attorneys argued that the drug use made him unable to form the intent required for first-degree murder.
Prosecutors countered with evidence about Kennedy’s conduct before and after Maynard was killed. They pointed to testimony that Kennedy appeared to act normally after his arrest, despite the defense focus on drug use. A medic who checked him, a trooper who transported him and a nurse who evaluated him told jurors about his behavior after he was taken into custody. The state also relied on video evidence, witness testimony and the alleged taking of Maynard’s gun to argue that Kennedy knew what he was doing.
The jury deliberated after a trial that included police witnesses, medical testimony, expert witnesses and family members. Jurors found Kennedy guilty on all counts. They then considered mercy and rejected it. That finding made the verdict especially severe because it left Kennedy facing life in prison without parole. In West Virginia, mercy is a key decision in first-degree murder cases because it can determine whether a person serving a life sentence may one day seek parole.
The verdict came nearly three years after Maynard was killed. At the time, state officials ordered flags lowered in his honor, and police from across West Virginia joined in public mourning. Maynard was 37, a husband, a father of two and a state police sergeant. His death was treated as a line-of-duty killing because he was responding to a shooting call when he was fatally wounded. The case remained active through Kennedy’s arrest, a grand jury indictment, pretrial arguments and the trial in Williamson.
Pretrial issues included the use of body-camera video and defense efforts tied to where the trial would be held. The court allowed jurors to see video evidence that prosecutors said showed Kennedy’s actions during the attack. That evidence gave the jury a direct view of parts of the scene, while witnesses filled in the wider timeline. The defense used cross-examination and testimony about drug use to press its argument that Kennedy’s mind was impaired. The state stayed focused on the sequence of shots, the assault and the flight.
The courtroom reflected the weight of the case for West Virginia State Police. Troopers packed the room when the verdict was announced. State police representatives said the verdict was a form of justice for Maynard, his relatives and the officers who served with him. They also said it could not erase the loss. The words from Ziegler’s testimony, especially his effort to send Maynard home, remained one of the trial’s most personal details because it framed Maynard’s response as a final choice to help.
Timothy Kennedy awaited sentencing after the jury’s no-mercy verdict. The next step was for the court to impose sentence on the murder conviction and the other counts tied to the Beech Creek shootings.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.