Kinyua, charged with first-degree murder, is being held without bail in the Harford County Detention Center. A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office said he is in isolation and on constant watch, and his attorney is the only visitor allowed.
A woman who answered the phone at the home of Alexander Kinyua's parents said she had been told to refer callers to defense attorney Donald Daneman. A secretary in his office said the attorney does not comment on pending cases.
Students who knew Kinyua said he was confrontational and strange at times. One student said he carried knives and once locked himself in the student's room, refusing to open the door. Others agreed he had "anger issues" and said that on at least one occasion he had run around his apartment building with paint on his face.
His Facebook page includes commentary about "mass human sacrifices," and he uploaded an image of himself with war paint on as part of his profile for a "Warrior Syndicate Radio" Internet radio channel.
Others, though, have described Kinyua as a high-performing electrical engineering student and longtime member of the school's ROTC program. Online photo albums show a smiling Kinyua proudly sporting his jacket for the National Society of Pershing Rifles, a fraternity for ROTC members.
Kinyua's former roommate at Morgan State, who asked not to be identified, said he "was always different but he was still a cool person to be around. ... [But] after [Kinyua] left ROTC, he changed."
The police report on the ROTC incident says that on Dec. 10, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., Kinyua allegedly punched holes in the walls of a computer lab in the Turner Armory, stapled a poster to cover the damage, and broke a picture frame.
In the report dated Dec 12, the staff sergeant, Edwards, said he had confronted Kinyua and then called police. Edwards described Kinyua as angry, and said the student had self-inflicted burn marks on his arms that he described as "tribal," according to the report.
"Mr. Edwards further stated that Mr. Kinyua is 'Virginia Tech waiting to happen.' With this information, I informed my supervisor … of the situation," the report states. It also says Edwards terminated Kinyua from ROTC, ordering two cadets to escort him to his locker and then out the door.
Kinyua was taken to a campus police station. In the report, two officers wrote that they "spoke to Mr. Kinyua in reference to any emotional or psychological issues." The report says: "Mr. Kinyua stated that he punched the walls due to stress caused by finances and 'personal problems that are beyond his control.'"
The officers, identified in the report as A. Smith and R. Winborn, concluded that the suspect did not require an emergency evaluation. He was given a citation charging him with destruction of university property and ordered to see the chief judicial officer.
On Jan. 31, Kinyua appeared at the anti-hazing forum. In the school's video recording of the event, a bearded and bespectacled Kinyua, dressed in a blue jacket and elaborate silver necklace, introduced himself by his full name.
His remarks are difficult to discern, but he asks about "collaborating more as it comes to university shootings. I hear a lot about hazing, but my question is about protecting kids, not kids, but young men and young women from university violence. … Virginia Tech was something very controversial."
Students can be heard grumbling and laughing. Kinyua then refers to a notebook and asks if the university could develop an off-campus hazing policy, referring to "blood sacrifices. … I just want to inform people, because most people are unaware of it."
After Kinyua concludes his remarks, the host of the event, vice president for student affairs Tanya Rush, says "time is winding up."
The remarks mirror themes of a posting on Kinyua's Facebook page from two weeks later. "IT'S BEEN ALL TOO TRAGIC WITH THE DOUBLE UNIVERSITY SHOOTINGS AT VIRGINIA TECH, AND OTHER PAST UNIVERSITY KILLINGS AROUND THE COUNTRY. NOW FOR A TWIST: ETHNIC CLEANSING IS THE POLICY, STRATEGY AND TACTICS THAT WILL AFFECT YOU, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN THE COMING MONTHS," he wrote in one message, warning fellow "HBCUers" — an abbreviation for students who attend historically black colleges and universities. "THIS IS THE BRUTAL BASIS, AN EVIL & TERRIFYING METHOD OF THIS DEATH CULTS."
On May 19, Kinyua again came to the university's attention, this time charged in the baseball bat attack in the doorway of a campus apartment building. Police charged Kinyua with assaulting Joshua Caesar, who is not a student at Morgan, hitting him in the head, fracturing his skull, arm and shoulder, and blinding him in his left eye.
Kinyua was charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and at his bail review was ordered held on $220,000 bond. He posted the bond and was freed.
Mark Cheshire, a spokesman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office, said prosecutors consult with police on charges in serious cases.
