Idaho man who killed boy could have faced death penalty, gets life in prison instead
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Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – An Idaho man who shot and killed an 11-year-old boy will spend his life in prison.
An Ada County District judge sentenced Benjamin Poirier, 46, to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement in October.
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In March 2020, the Emmett man was arrested after he walked into a Horseshoe Bend trailer park and began shooting at a trailer, hitting and killing the 11-year-old boy. Police previously said Poirier was heard yelling about the end of the world before opening fire. He later tried to drive away, but he drove into the trailer and was arrested by a Boise County sheriff’s deputy nearby.
In return for his plea, Boise County prosecutors withdrew their intent to seek the death penalty. Initially, prosecutors sought capital punishment and argued that the killing was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.”
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Poirier will have to pay $5,000 in restitution plus $245 in court fees, according to court records. He is currently in custody, as of Friday, at the Ada County Jail and will likely be transferred to an Idaho Department of Correction facility soon.
Jon Dufresne, who owned the mobile home park at the time of the shooting, previously told the Idaho Statesman the boy’s family had lived there for about three years. He described the family as “one of the best tenants in the entire park” and the boy as “one of the best kids in the entire school.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened in Horseshoe Bend,” Dufresne previously said. “I thought I was doing everything in my power to protect the children here, and then the worst possible thing happened.”