Attorneys for the man in custody for the 2021 murder of Kelly Jo Marie Kocurek of Hastings have filed an objection to a competency report order conducted by the judge in the case.
Kyle Steven Williams, 34 of Red Wing remains held in the Dakota County Jail with bail set at $2 million. The jury trial in connection with the alleged murder of Kocurek on May 23, 2021, at a Hastings motel had been slated to begin Feb. 21. After a hearing Thursday, Feb. 8, Dakota County Circuit Judge Dannia L. Edwards has scheduled a review hearing for Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. in the Dakota County Judicial Center and ordered that Williams remain in custody in the Dakota County Jail.
The jury trial had been scheduled to run from Feb. 21-March 9, and court records show it has been cancelled.
Williams was indicted by a grand jury in Dakota County on March 30, 2023, on charges of Murder in the First Degree (Domestic Abuse), Murder in the First Degree (Premeditated) and Murder in the Second Degree (With Intent/Not Premeditated).
The judge suspended the criminal proceedings in December 2023 pending a medical examination by Regional Psychological Services. A doctor was asked to “conduct an examination to determine Defendant’s competency to proceed and complete a written report to the court on the mental condition of Defendant.”
The judge’s order at that time stated that the court believes “there is sufficient probable cause to support the charges against Defendant.”
That report was received by the court at the end of January. It is not contained in online court files, but based on the objection, it likely indicates the case can move forward.
A Feb. 7 filing by public defenders assigned to work with Williams asks for a full competency hearing.
“The defense hereby objects to the competency report filed by Dr. Amy Crockford on Jan. 30, 2024, in the above entitled matter and requests a competency hearing,” the letter signed by Assistant Public Defender Marcus L. Almon states.
Kocurek was killed in a Hastings motel on May 18, 2021. She was staying at the motel waiting to go to an inpatient treatment facility. She called her mother to bring her a suitcase she had left at home. When her mother arrived at the hotel, Williams, Kocurek’s boyfriend, was also there.
After an exchange where Kocurek’s mother expressed her desire that Williams not be there, the mother left. On the drive home, she received a call from Williams that Kocurek was not breathing, and she rushed back to be with her daughter. Less than a week later, Kocurek was pronounced dead. Her mother reported seeing Kocurek lying motionless in the hospital leading up to her death looking like she had been severely beaten repeatedly with several bruises on her face and neck.
A lengthy autopsy performed by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined that Kocurek’s death was a homicide, and she died from asphyxiation. Notes from the Medical Examiner included details of several injuries that could not be self-inflicted, including facial fractures and facial hemorrhages and hemorrhages in both eyes.
During the initial investigation, witnesses at the hotel reported hearing “wrestling or fighting” before Williams was seen running in the hallway with blood on him.
According to the criminal complaint, Williams had given several different accounts of the events to investigators but had always stuck with the story that Kocurek strangled herself with a cord.
Williams had left the state before charges were filed, and the charge of second-degree murder was issued in October of 2021. The warrant for Williams’s arrest was executed in Arizona and he was returned to Minnesota to stand trial for the homicide of Kocurek.