A 20-year-old Nampa man pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for his role in the shooting death of his 48-year-old roommate at Hunter’s Creek Sports Complex in Star on Christmas Day 2021.
Dakota Travis Honeycutt will find out later this spring how long he will go to prison for killing Kevin Hunt.
Honeycutt was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded to the second-degree charge as part of an agreement with Ada County prosecutors.
Honeycutt will be sentenced May 1. He could go to prison for up to 45 years.
Honeycutt initially told investigators he watched roommate Hunt complete suicide at the park on Christmas night 2021 with a shotgun — and then left Hunt at the park and drove away without telling anyone what happened.
Detectives determined that was not true and developed evidence Honeycutt shot Hunt.
Kevin Hunt’s body was found on a sidewalk in the park by a citizen around 9 a.m. Dec. 26, 2021.
Investigators quickly determined Hunt died from a gunshot wound. Hunt was by himself. His car was not at the park.
Star Police closed off the area and began an intensive search. Investigators eventually determined Honeycutt was living at Hunt’s Nampa-area apartment and might be driving Hunt’s car.
They found Honeycutt that night, interviewed him, and arrested him.
Honeycutt told investigators he threw the shotgun in the Boise River after the shooting.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Dive Team found the shotgun in the river the morning of Dec. 27, 2021.
It remains unclear why the men were at Hunter’s Creek Park, as they both lived in Nampa and did not appear to have any direct ties to Star.