Community mourns for victims of US stabbing attack

Grief weighed heavily on a crowd of roughly 1,500 people who attended a vigil to honour the victims of a mass stabbing in Boise, in the US state of Idaho.

The nine victims were all members of refugee families who were attending a birthday celebration for a three-year-old girl, Ruya, on Saturday night when a man armed with a knife attacked them.

Ruya died of her wounds on Monday morning.

At the Monday evening vigil, many attendees held signs to show support for the refugee community.

Louai Nasri, who lives in the apartment complex that was attacked, held up a large poster of a young girl dressed in an ornately embroidered shirt and hat. 

In the photo she is standing in front of a Disney Princess-themed banner and gesturing to a pink, doll-shaped birthday cake.

The picture was of Ruya, the three-year-old girl whose birthday party was attacked. 

Nasri said she was a friend of his son's.

Accused charged with first-degree murder

Timmy Kinner, 30, is accused of the stabbing of the children and adults who tried to protect them.

Kinner has been charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the attack.

Ada County Magistrate Judge Russell Comstock told Kinner he was "an extreme danger to the community" and ordered him to be held without bond.

Kinner is a US citizen. His victims were members of refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia. Boise Police Chief William Bones said the evidence, however, did not suggest the attack was a hate crime.

Eligible for execution?

Kinner appeared in court on Monday through closed-circuit video, a common practice for first appearances in Idaho.

Wearing a tattered off-white sweatshirt with his arms shackled to his waist, Kinner told the judge he didn't understand the charges or proceedings. He also said he wanted to represent himself.

The judge ordered that he be appointed a public defender anyway.

"I can't explain the charges any more clearly than I just did," he told Kinner.

Three of the stabbing victims were adults, the others children: the three-year-old girl who died, two four-year-olds, a six-year-old, an eight-year-old and a 12-year-old.

If convicted, Kinner could be eligible for execution under Idaho law. 

Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said her office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, saying those "high-level decisions" are made only after all the facts are in.