Ina Kenoyer, a 48-year-old woman from North Dakota, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after admitting to fatally poisoning her boyfriend, Steven Riley Jr., because she believed he was set to inherit $30 million. The sentencing took place on October 16, following her guilty plea to murder in May. In addition to her prison term, Kenoyer was ordered to pay $3,455 in restitution to Riley's family.
Kenoyer was arrested on October 30, 2023, nearly two months after the poisoning incident. Authorities reported that she had mixed antifreeze into sweet tea she prepared for Riley on September 3, 2023, leading to his death two days later. Prosecutors stated that Kenoyer poisoned Riley, 51, after he received information about a potential inheritance, which turned out to be a scam.
Friends of the couple revealed that Riley intended to break up with Kenoyer upon receiving the inheritance. On the day he fell ill, Riley had planned to meet with a lawyer regarding the inheritance but instead became unwell. Despite his friends' attempts to seek medical help, Kenoyer insisted he was suffering from heat stroke and took him home to rest.
Riley's condition deteriorated, and on September 5, 2023, he was found unconscious and later airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed death by ethylene glycol poisoning. Following his death, friends informed police that Kenoyer had previously made comments about poisoning him.
During the investigation, Kenoyer claimed Riley had been drinking heavily, but no alcohol was detected in his system. She later confessed to adding antifreeze to the sweet tea to mask the taste, believing she would be entitled to part of the inheritance as his common-law wife, despite North Dakota not recognizing such relationships.
At her sentencing, Riley's son, Ryan Riley, expressed the profound impact of his father's death, stating, “To have you take away someone so important, it’s just hurtful. I never expected to lose my dad to something so selfish