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Kevin Boyd Sr. was well-respected in Lake Orion, Michigan, both as a loving father and a thriving businessperson. However, in August 1994, he was murdered in a violent manner that shocked the community.
The killing turned out to be a premeditated crime committed by people very close to him, his ex-wife, and his teenage son. When investigators first arrived at the scene, they assumed this was a case of burglary. However, they quickly uncovered a calculated plan driven by emotional and financial motives, orchestrated by people he knew, along with others who remained unidentified.
The evidence recorded from the scene of the crime indicated the use of a baseball bat and a knife by the criminals, a staged robbery, and fabricated alibis. It didn't take long for a combination of witness confessions, recantations, and physical evidence to yield a chilling conclusion. Kevin Jr., 16 years old at the time, had taken part in murdering his father, while his mother, Lynn Boyd, had planned the killing and participated in the killing.
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This investigation and trial resulted in both receiving sentences. Over the years, there were attempted appeals related to juvenile sentencing rules, which eventually led to Kevin Jr.'s release on parole several decades later.
Season 1 episode 8 of Mother, May I Murder?, titled The Root of All Evil features Kevin Boyd Sr.'s case. The episode first aired on September 11, 2023, and re-aired on August 4, 2025, on Investigation Discovery.
A detailed case overview of Kevin Boyd Sr.'s murder
Kevin Boyd Sr.'s family was torn by addiction and divorce
Kevin Boyd Sr. was born in 1951 and spent the majority of his life in Berkeley, Michigan. He was one of seven children and the only son. He married Lynn in 1975, and in 1977, they had a son, Kevin Jr.
Lynn and Kevin Sr. developed an alcohol-based product after the success of Kevin Sr.'s tool rental business. However, according to Oxygen, Lynn’s downfall was alcoholism, and Kevin Jr. later claimed that both his parents drank excessively. The marriage ultimately ended in 1988, when Lynn left Kevin for another woman.
Despite the divorce, Kevin Sr. remained involved in Kevin Jr.’s life. However, Kevin Jr. began exhibiting serious behavioral and psychological problems.
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Kevin Jr. had attempted to kill himself, abused alcohol, used drugs, and struggled academically, moving from one school to another, attending a total of 10 different schools. He eventually dropped out of school. Kevin Boyd Sr. and Lynn decided to give Kevin Jr. a last chance at stability by having him live with his father. This decision would ultimately prove fatal.
The night of Kevin Boyd Sr.'s murder
On the morning of August 6, 1994, Kevin Jr. was found distraught outside their apartment complex. Officers noted during the investigation that he seemed relatively calm and accounted for. In the nearby apartment, however, Kevin Boyd Sr. was found dead in a recliner chair with a pillow on top of him, posed in a puddle of blood throughout the living room.
He had been stabbed over 20 times and beaten severely. According to Oxygen, an autopsy revealed wounds to the back, torso, and face, blunt trauma to the head, and that there were black paint particles found embedded in his skull, suggesting a black bat-like object had been used in the murder.
Although the apartment appeared ransacked and two guns were missing, there were no signs of forced entry. Kevin Jr. told police he had spent the night before at a girlfriend's place after a fight with his father and returned to find his father dead. Kevin Jr. suggested that the guns had likely been stolen.
Investigation pointed to Kevin Boyd Sr.'s family
Lynn originally told police that she had stayed home at her apartment and watched movies with her girlfriend, Julie Grain. However, in November 1994, Grain recanted her statement. She told detectives that Lynn had left her apartment on the night of the murder and returned hours later, admitting to committing the crime.
Grain said Lynn asked her to lie to the police about being at her apartment. Detectives later recovered one of Kevin Sr's guns after Lynn allegedly asked a friend to dispose of it. Grain also admitted that she had driven Kevin Jr. to see his mother at a Burger King that night. Lynn ultimately admitted to killing Kevin Sr. but claimed that Grain was responsible for the actual stabbing.
Police did not believe Julie was the true accomplice in the murder, and thought it was Kevin Jr. When police confronted Kevin Jr. with evidence, he admitted to the whole thing.
As reported by Oxygen, when asked who could commit such a crime, Kevin Jr. replied:
“You’re looking at him.”
He admitted to repeatedly stabbing his father after Lynn struck him over the head with a bat.
Trials and Sentencing of Kevin Boyd Sr.'s murderers
Lynn and Kevin Jr. were both charged with first-degree murder and were tried separately in 1996. Kevin Jr. was tried as an adult. Prosecutors argued that the murder was motivated by a desire to collect Kevin Sr.'s $500,000 life insurance policy. According to the Associated Press (via Oxygen), both were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
However, a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles opened the door for resentencing hearings.
Kevin Jr. was resentenced in 2019 to 25 years and got released on parole in January 2020, as reported by The Oakland Press. Lynn Boyd is still incarcerated at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility.
Mother, May I Murder? can be streamed on Investigation Discovery.
