Judge Jeffrey Clymer sentenced Kuran Kinley to 60 years in prison for the murder of Jayveon Triplett in Valparaiso.

The May plea is the conviction. The term The Times reported in October is the punishment on that murder count and on the firearm enhancement, not a jury verdict and not a new accusation. Judge Jeffrey Clymer put the number at 55 years plus five. The child who was at the door is not named in this account. The October report does not say whether any time was added on the other counts Kinley admitted in May, or whether he has filed a notice of appeal.

Porter Superior Judge Jeffrey Clymer sentenced Kuran Kinley, 26, of Valparaiso, to 55 years in prison for murder and five more years for using a firearm in the crime, 60 years at the Indiana Department of Correction, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Oct. 17, 2026. Dan Carden's account said Kinley pleaded guilty in May to fatally shooting another man in an apartment-building stairway while a child looked on. The 60-year term is the sentence the paper reported on that murder count and that firearm enhancement.

Court records, The Times reported, say a child was opening the door of an apartment in the 1900 block of Chicago Street on June 2, 2025, as Kinley shot Jayveon Triplett, 24, at least six times. The records say Kinley was angry that Triplett kept coming to the apartment while Kinley's child was there. The Times reported that Triplett was dating a woman at the apartment who was pregnant with Triplett's child and who is the mother of Kinley's child. The child is not named here. WGN-TV, reporting the charging documents last year, also spelled the man who was killed Jayveon Triplett and said he was 24 and from Valparaiso.

WGN reported officers were called to that block of Chicago Street at about 7:30 p.m. and that Triplett was pronounced dead at the scene. The Times, in its May account of the plea, reported an autopsy found he was shot six times, in the front of the neck and in the back. Police said Kinley told them he believed Triplett was unarmed and was moving away from him. WGN reported the 911 caller was Triplett's girlfriend and that she identified Kinley. The Times reported in October that Kinley fled, that the shooting set off a search, and that he was arrested nearly two miles away about an hour later. WGN placed that arrest in the 300 block of Indiana Avenue and said he was 24 and from Highland. WGN reported the documents said he had a black handgun when he was arrested. The Times reported in May that police said he threw the gun away as he ran and that officers found it.

Kinley appeared by video from the Porter County Jail on May 20, 2026, and pleaded guilty before Judge Clymer to murder, criminal recklessness, and carrying a handgun without a permit by a convicted felon, plus a firearm enhancement, The Times reported that day. The October story describes the sentence as 55 years for the murder and five years for the use of the firearm. It also says he must register as a violent offender because of prior felony convictions for battery in Lake County and disorderly conduct in Porter County. The May report listed a February 2020 Lake County conviction for battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a December 2020 Lake County conviction for battery resulting in bodily injury, and a January 2025 Porter County conviction for disorderly conduct in a case in which a resisting count was dismissed. The 60-year term is the judgment on the murder plea and the firearm enhancement. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.