A 49-year-old man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for killing his stepfather on Christmas Day in 2022.

Michael Trevlyn Kaser was sentenced after pleading guilty on March 22 to one count of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

In the afternoon of Dec. 25, 2022, Gilbert police responded to a call regarding a vehicle that had collided into a house.

When officers arrived, they found the windshield of the car riddled with bullet holes with Michael Kinney seated in the driver’s seat, gravely injured. As officers began performing CPR, they noticed Kinney had two gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead 30 minutes later, an MCAO release stated.  

Kinney and Kaser had been arguing on the way back from a Christmas dinner, authorities said.

“As they were pulling into the garage, Kaser exited and walked to the front of the vehicle, then shot the victim through the windshield.

“While Kaser was being arrested, he callously made multiple statements claiming he had killed his stepdad and hoped he was dead,” MCAO officials stated in the release.

Police found video clips from the dash cam of the vehicle, which showed the shooting, officials said.

“This individual showed no remorse for his actions. He wasn’t worried about shooting his mother who was also in the vehicle, he didn’t provide aid to his stepfather but instead continually rejoiced about what he’d done,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said.

“This disregard for life will not go unpunished. He will be in prison for a very long time.”