Man sentenced for holding woman hostage, shooting her multiple times

IDAHO FALLS — A 43-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday for a domestic dispute involving multiple guns that resulted in the victim being shot multiple times.

Christopher Michael Kerins was sentenced to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison by District Judge Bruce Pickett.

Kerins was initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony domestic battery, felony attempted strangulation, felony second-degree kidnapping, felony assault with intent to murder, two counts of felony aggravated battery, felony unlawful discharge of a weapon, felony robbery, misdemeanor sexual battery and misdemeanor intentional destruction of a telecommunication line.

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In April, three charges were dropped by the prosecution, including felony assault with intent to murder, felony robbery and felony unlawful discharge of a weapon.

In September, Kerins signed a plea agreement, where he agreed to plead guilty to felony domestic battery, felony aggravated battery and a felony enhancement for using a firearm or deadly weapon. The prosecution agreed to drop all other charges, including those in a separate case of felony intimidation of a witness and two counts of misdemeanor violation of a no-contact order.

The prosecution also agreed to recommend a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, Kerins must also pay full restitution.

Background of the case

Shortly before 7 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2022, Idaho Falls Police Officers responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 400 block of H Street, according to a news release from the Idaho Falls Police Department.

A reporting party called dispatch and stated their neighbor had texted asking them to call 911. The caller reportedly said they weren’t sure what was happening, but the female neighbor and her domestic partner, later identified as Kerins, had been fighting for several days.

Shortly after arriving on the scene, officers heard several gunshots coming from the house.

Officers and an assisting Idaho State Trooper approached the house and were able to contact the female victim at the backdoor and escort her to safety.

The victim had sustained several injuries, including gunshot wounds to her foot and leg, and was taken to a local hospital by an Idaho Falls Ambulance.

The victim told officers Kerins was alone inside the house and was heavily armed with multiple firearms. Dispatch used the AlertSense system to tell residents in the immediate area around the house to shelter in place.

An officer was able to make contact with Kerins on the phone, who eventually agreed to surrender, according to court documents. When he came to the front door, he was wearing a military-style load-bearing vest containing multiple magazines of ammunition and had a loaded semi-automatic pistol.

Officers placed him in handcuffs.

After Kerins was taken into custody, dispatch sent an updated AlertSense notification to residents in the immediate area, lifting the shelter-in-place warning.

Detectives soon learned that before police were called, Kerins had attacked the victim multiple times and prevented her from leaving the house.

According to the victim, he had punched her in the face and chest, attempted to strangle her, beat her with the butt and barrel of multiple firearms, held her at gunpoint, shot weapons inside the house numerous times — including toward the victim, shot her in the leg and foot and committed other acts of violence against her.

Also according to the victim, Kerins forcibly removed a phone from her in order to keep her from calling 911. Kerins reportedly made statements indicating that he was going to kill her.

At some point, Kerins reportedly realized the victim needed medical attention. He returned her cell phone and instructed her to call the neighbor for medical assistance.

The victim used the phone to text the neighbor to call 911 and stated she believed she would have died had officers not been called to the residence.

Officers later executed a search warrant on the house and found multiple bullet holes in various areas and other evidence corroborating the victim’s account of the events. Officers also located and seized several firearms, including a shotgun, a .22 long rifle, an AR-15 and a SKS firearm.

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A month later, Kerins reportedly called his mother from jail and tried to use her to prevent the victim from testifying against him in a preliminary hearing.

In a recorded phone call, he stated, “Mom, you got to tell her to get in a (expletive) truck, go to North Carolina and just heal a while.”

He also allegedly attempted to violate his active no-contact order with the victim multiple times through three people.

Documents said Kerins would use an alias to contact the victim. He also wrote a letter to someone he knew and asked them to assist him in violating the no-contact order.

In the letter, he wrote statements like, “Don’t say names because I am not allowed to talk to her I don’t think if she wrote me they could do anything but if I contact her I’m getting a new felony.”