Tia Skinner

Case record: Tia Skinner

Background

Tia Skinner was convicted as the daughter of Paul Skinner and Mara Skinner and was described as their adopted child. Police said her anger toward her parents for forbidding her to see her boyfriend led her to plan the attack.

Mara Skinner was the wife of Paul Skinner. Paul Skinner was 47. Mara Skinner was 44. Their adult son, Jeffrey Skinner, worked as a nurse and testified at proceedings.

Jeffrey Skinner was described as from the Grand Rapids area. He testified that he came home early for an engagement party planned for Nov. 13 for their adult daughter, Margaret Skinner, and her fiancé, Gregory Langolf, of Macomb.

Tia Skinner was described as a niece who was adopted by the Skinners as their daughter from Mara Skinner’s sister Valerie Borja at about the age of 3. Valerie Borja had previously spent time in prison for possession of a controlled substance, breaking and entering and other offenses, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Tia Skinner was described as adopted by the Skinners after her mother, an inmate at the time, gave birth to her in prison. At the time of the attack she was a high school senior soon to be accepted to Western Michigan University. She was active in her church and performed in the school band.

The offence

The attack was described as a double stabbing in the bedroom of Paul Skinner and Mara Skinner at their Yale, home. Paul Skinner was stabbed to death. Mara Skinner survived with more than 25 or 26 stab wounds.

Police said the evidence showed that Tia Skinner orchestrated the attack because she was upset at her parents’ disapproval of her boyfriend, Jonathan Kurtz. Kurtz was described as her boyfriend of two weeks at the time. Investigators said Tia Skinner was upset at her parents for taking away her cell phone and for forbidding her to see Kurtz.

Mara Skinner testified that she was resting next to her husband when he shouted "Hon! Hon!" She said she then felt blunt force to her back and to her neck and began screaming as she was attacked.

Mara Skinner described that she could not see the attackers until her husband turned on the light in their second-floor bedroom, where she saw a knife being plunged toward her chest and grabbed it. She testified:

“No! You have to go, go, go. Jeff is here right now.”

Mara Skinner testified further:

“I was being attacked and my husband was being attacked. I was screaming. My husband was screaming.”

Tia Skinner remained in the basement during the attack and after police arrived at the home, according to testimony. An officer testified that Tia Skinner was “so calm,” and that when asked what happened she said:

'No, but my brother said it was bad.'

Jeffrey Skinner testified that he heard a rumbling and that his sister had gone upstairs, returned, and told him:

“there’s something wrong. There’s something wrong,”

Jeffrey Skinner testified that after getting upstairs he followed a blood trail and saw his father come back into the house, blood-covered and disoriented, and he went to help his mother and then his father. He testified that he yelled for Tia but she never came upstairs to help.

Police and prosecutors described Tia Skinner’s role as arranging for the attack and assisting with planning. She left a window open and a ladder outside the house, and she drew a map of the neighborhood. Investigators said she also used text messages to communicate with the killers and chose knives.

Among the instructions she gave Kurtz and Preston were "The later, the better" and "Try to make it look like a break-in gone bad."

A prosecutor said Kurtz volunteered to enter the plan because he wanted the money and recruited his friend James Preston. The prosecutor said details of that plan were discussed days before outside of a church youth group meeting.

A prosecutor also described a breaking point on Nov. 10, when Mara Skinner grounded the girl and took her cell phone after reading texts from Kurtz professing his love.

Investigators said Kurtz told police that Tia Skinner texted him that she “snatched” her phone and needed "it done tonight at 11 p.m.," as described by Detective Sgt. Twana Powell.

Police testimony and investigators’ descriptions said Tia Skinner promised $500 each for the killings, and another account described she had agreed to pay $1,000 to Jonathan Kurtz which would be split with James Preston.

Investigation

Police said evidence included a hand-drawn map found outside the scene of the violent home invasion with the words “my house” scrawled on it, and a checklist of what to do before the attack. The map and materials pointed to the location of the Paul and Mara Skinner’s bedroom.

A St. Clair County prosecutor described that investigators were led to the suspects in part by the hand-drawn map.

Michigan State Police trooper Regina Margosian testified regarding Tia Skinner’s demeanor after the attack, stating:

“Her demeanor was indifferent,”

Margosian testified that while in a patrol car Tia Skinner talked about being a high school senior and plans for college and "She never asked what happened or the condition of her parents," as described by Margosian’s testimony.

Tia Skinner told detectives she allowed Kurtz and Preston to take the map before the attack, as described by Margosian.

State police Detective Sgt. Twana Powell testified that Preston also told officers that Tia Skinner gave him the map, and that the map included an arrow pointing to the location of the Paul and Mara Skinner’s bedroom.

A prosecutor stated Tia Skinner was angry at her parents for forbidding her to see Kurtz and for grounding her and confiscating her cell phone after finding texts from him declaring his love for her.

Tia Skinner’s defense attorney, John Livesay, said he had heard 911 calls and that:

“they speak for themselves.”

He declined further comment, saying:

“I think it’s appropriate that people be tried in the courts.”

Arrest

Investigators said Tia Skinner, Jonathan Kurtz, and James Preston were arrested within hours of the Nov. 12 attack in Yale. The two males were from Avoca, as described.

A judge found enough evidence to warrant a trial for the 17-year-old daughter of the couple and for two men police said carried out the assault.

Trial

A St. Clair County Circuit Court jury deliberated about 45 minutes before finding Tia Skinner guilty of murdering her father and trying to murder her mother in a knife attack at their Port Huron-area home. The jury convicted her of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to murder.

The Associated Press account said Paul Skinner was stabbed to death and Mara Skinner was seriously wounded. The jury foreman read the verdict while Skinner stood quietly.

Prosecutors said Tia Skinner was angry at her parents for forbidding her from seeing Jonathan Kurtz and confiscating her cellphone, and authorities said Kurtz and James Preston broke into the home and attacked the couple while Tia Skinner watched a movie in the basement.

Sentencing

On September 16, 2011, Tia Skinner, along with James Preston and Jonathan Kurtz, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the stabbing death of Paul Skinner and the attempted murder of Mara Skinner.

The courtroom proceedings started around 9:15 a.m. Judge Daniel Kelly sentenced Skinner, and the courtroom was full and standing room only.

Kurtz addressed the court and said in a barely audible voice, "I'm sorry for doing what we did". He then turned to Judge Daniel Kelly and said:

"On behalf of everyone you put away for life, (expletive) you"

James Preston stood before the judge and said:

"Convicting me is an injustice, the prosecution has failed to do that in my case."

Paul Skinner was murdered while Mara Skinner survived nearly 2 dozen stab wounds.

At sentencing, Tia Skinner apologized to the community and her family, saying "I love my family so very much … and realize I was given the best life I could have had" and "I wish i could have my family back." Mara Skinner spoke directly to the teens and said:

"Our screams and cries for help went unanswered. You heard them and chose not to stop."

Judge Daniel Kelly later returned for a resentencing following U.S. Supreme Court guidance barring automatic no-parole sentences for those younger than 18 convicted of first-degree murder.

On July 11, 2013, Tia Skinner was resentenced to life in a Michigan prison without parole.

Judge Daniel Kelly said:

“Justice demands that you serve not one day less,” and said, "Tia was the architect of the plan," as described in the sentencing account.

Tia Skinner, now 20, said she was sorry for what happened and acknowledged she could have stopped the attack. She told Kelly:

“I am the coward that everyone says I am,”

Mara Skinner was in court but did not speak.

During emotional statements, Ken Skinner said:

“How did that knife feel — foot-long and an inch-and-a half wide? You didn’t just bring a paring knife,” and Ken Skinner also said: “We’re together. You’re not. You’re out,” and: “You shouldn’t see no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Judge Kelly said she did not suffer from the disadvantages experienced by other kids who do not comprehend the consequences of committing crimes and stated the Supreme Court struck down automatic no-parole sentences for teenagers because it felt that vulnerable, immature young people deserved a thorough hearing and shouldn’t be treated the same as adults.

Defense attorney John Livesay called the attack “egregious” and “incomprehensible” but said Skinner otherwise had a spotless life and deserved a chance at freedom.

Appeals

Skinner returned to court because the U.S. Supreme Court barred automatic no-parole sentences for those younger than 18 convicted of first-degree murder, which allowed her to receive a new sentencing hearing.

At the time of resentencing, she was described as scheduled to never leave prison under the new life-without-parole sentence.

The narrative said she was trying to request a new sentencing because of the Supreme Court decision affecting Michigan law. It also described that she appealed her convictions on grounds including being interviewed by police as a minor without parental consent and claiming her lawyer was ineffective.

More than 350 Michigan inmates convicted of first-degree murder were serving mandatory no-parole sentences for killings committed while they were teens, and the account said most were not benefiting from the 2012 Supreme Court decision so far.

A state appeals court was described as saying that only recent convicts who had not exhausted their initial appeals were entitled to a second hearing like the one granted to Skinner. A lawsuit pending in federal court in Ann Arbor and potential intervention by the Michigan Supreme Court were mentioned.

Outcome

Tia Skinner was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to murder in the stabbing death of Paul Skinner and the attempted murder of Mara Skinner.

She was sentenced to life in prison without parole on September 16, 2011, and was resentenced to life in prison without parole on July 11, 2013.

Aftermath

In 2012, Tia Skinner spoke from the confines of the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. She said she regretted everything and blamed her actions on a “bad temper.” She told a newspaper:

“I regret all my decisions.”

She also said she described what happened as “awful,” and stated, “I just had a bad temper and I took it out on somebody who didn’t deserve it, somebody who looked after me and took care of me,” as described in the account.

She described that only on the night of the attack did she have second thoughts, saying:

“Never would I have thought that these two boys would have gone against what I said,”

She said:

“I just wonder how everything could have been flipped upside down so quick, and I never would have thought I’d be the one to orchestrate something to hurt my family because my family is people I’d protect.”

She said she would never forget the sounds of her father’s screams, and said:

“It sounded awful to me, it literally made my heart-break in two to hear my dad like that,” and: “I think it was just awful I just had a bad temper and I took it out on somebody who didn’t deserve it, somebody who looked after me and took care of me.”

She said after the attack that her thoughts changed:

“I hoped that both of them pulled through. That was the biggest thing, that I hoped both of them would pull,”

She said she hoped the community knew she was sorry for her role, saying:

“I believe that everybody deserves a second chance in life,”

She said that since being sent to prison in Ypsilanti she had not heard from her mother, siblings or anyone else from the close-knit Yale community and said:

“It’s been rough, it’s hard losing your whole family in a blink of an eye,” and: “It’s tough because that’s my family; they’re supposed to stay by you through thick and thin.”

Tia Skinner was described as having been incarcerated since the Nov. 2010 attack, and the other two co-defendants were described as having been convicted earlier of the same charges.

Other details

A 911 call account described that Tia Skinner said:

“I stayed in the basement and my brother ran upstairs. I heard something loud and I told him to go help, because I heard screaming,” and: “We’re bleeding really bad,”

Mara Skinner said earlier on the same call:

“Somebody came in and stabbed my mom,” “Stabbed my mom and dad.”

Paul Skinner could be heard saying he couldn’t breathe, as described.

Tia Skinner said:

“Nobody saw them,” about the attackers.

Jeffrey Skinner passed the phone to his sister, as described.

A 911 call account also described a phone on Mara Skinner’s nightstand and the arrival response after the call.

At a preliminary exam, Mara Skinner testified in an orange prison jumpsuit as Tia Skinner listened. Mara Skinner testified about being attacked in their bed and that she had stabbed entry wounds across her back, head, ribs and breasts, as described.

The preliminary exam account stated that Paul Skinner was stabbed more than 20 times and later collapsed inside the home after chasing the suspects outside.

The preliminary exam account described that at about midnight on Nov. 12, two men with bandanas covering their faces climbed through Tia Skinner's first-floor bedroom window and crept upstairs to her parents' room.

The preliminary exam account described that Mara Skinner was shopping and went out for dinner Nov. 11 hours before being seriously wounded, and that when they got home they found adult son Jeffrey Skinner at their South Main Street home.

The preliminary exam account stated that Mara Skinner called 911 from a phone on her nightstand and that Jeffrey Skinner came up to check on her and she told him:

“I told him I was OK,” “Go take care of Dad.”

The preliminary exam account described that Tia Skinner wanted to watch a movie downstairs the night of Nov. 11, and then she asked Jeffrey Skinner for help with a book report.

The preliminary exam account stated that Jeffrey Skinner said Tia went upstairs three times to get things and when she came down the last time, she said something was wrong.

A preliminary exam account included the statement from Mara Skinner to her attacker:

“No! You need to go, go go!” “Get out of here!”

The record described that Deputy Jeff Green arrived at about 12:20 a.m. in response to the 9-1-1 call.

It also described that as officers attempted to calm Jeffrey Skinner, he said his sister remained calm and was responding as he described.

A separate account described that the defense attorney, John Livesay, was quoted on statements and trial strategy that those culpability statements likely would lead to separate trials, and he said:

“Frequently that occurs in these situations, especially when fingers tend to be pointed back and forth,”

The account described that the defendants were ordered held without bond and a trial date was not set.

A later sentencing account also described that Judge Daniel Kelly said the Supreme Court struck down automatic no-parole sentences for teenagers because it felt vulnerable, immature young people deserved a thorough hearing and shouldn't be treated the same as adults, and that the Supreme Court still didn’t remove the possibility of life without parole.