Live-in boyfriend pleads guilty to killing Jenny Baxter, gets 40 years sentence
Published 5:46 pm Monday, August 19, 2024
- FILE PHOTO — Law enforcement escorts Russell James Kinney to the Orange County Jail on a charge of homicide in the death of Jenny Baxter. Kinney was extradited from Liberty County. (Courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff's Office)
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The live-in boyfriend of a Vidor area woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison for her 2023 killing.
Russell James Kinney, 40, was initially set for trial this week but the trial was to be rescheduled to October. Instead of waiting for trial he opted for a plea deal of 40 years thus waiving his chance at appeal.
He must serve at least 20 years before he is eligible for parole.
Kinney pleaded guilty to the killing of 45-year-old Jenny Baxter. Baxter used a wheelchair to get around due to health issues.
Jenny Baxter is remembered as a funny, witty, intelligent and loving person. (Courtesy photo)
Baxter’s body was found March 14, 2023, after a welfare check at her home in the Denbow Mobile Home Park, 206 FM 1131 near Vidor. Authorities believe she may have been killed at least three weeks earlier. A live-in boyfriend, Russell James Kinney, was arrested in connection with her death.
Baxter’s body was found wrapped in plastic underneath a bed.
Orange County Assistant District Attorney Krispen Walker said Baxter had a lot of family and friends who were devastated by her murder. She feels the sentence is appropriate under the circumstances.
The plea was made in Judge Rex Peveto’s 163rd District Court on Monday.
Friends close to Baxter spoke of her kindness and love for every living animal saying she was funny, witty and very intelligent. Her laughter could fill a room always gave giant hugs, squeezing every bit of love she could into each one, friends said in a story following her death.
In 2022 Baxter was a guest author at Vidor Public Library, signing copies of her book “Gordon Baxter: Flying Lessons and Pilot Talk” taken from excerpts of books written by her father, Gordon Baxter.
Her father, known as Bax, was from Port Arthur and was well known locally as a radio personality, columnist in newspapers and magazines, author and pilot. Gordon Baxter was 54 when Jenny was born, and in 1985 he penned “Jenny n’ Dad: The Love Story of a Very Young Daughter and a Very Old Dad,” using his style of humor to tell their story.
Jenny Baxter lost her father at the age of 81 in June 2005 and her mother Diane at the age of 73 in September 2014.
Close family friends said these losses were difficult on her.
