Defendant Denies Striking Ex-wife with Vehicle
Kenneth James Floyd on Friday told jurors he had been trying to reconcile with Kimberly Gilham before her death on Father’s Day in 2023
By Maggie Dresser
After prosecutors rested their case on Friday morning in the negligent homicide trial of 40-year-old Kenneth James Floyd, the defendant took the stand and told a Flathead County jury that he loved his ex-wife and denied striking her with his pickup truck.
Floyd has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of negligent homicide for the June 2023 death of 37-year-old Kimberly Gilham. He has also pleaded not guilty to a second felony count of leaving the scene of a vehicle accident involving serious bodily injury or death to another person and a third felony count of tampering with physical evidence.
Flathead County District Court Judge Dan Wilson is presiding over the trial, which began Oct. 27.
“I loved her – and she’s the mother of my child,” Floyd said.
During direct examination from his defense attorney, Jami Rebsom, Floyd avoided eye contact and described a “great” and “progressing” relationship with Kimberly Gilham, who he had previously been married to, and said they had met up several times in recent months and had conversations about reconciling.
According to Floyd, he and Kimberly on June 18 had been drinking vodka and 7 Up in his silver Chevy Silverado when her husband, Chris Gilham, aggressively approached them in his Chevy Trailblazer driving westbound in the alley outside the Gilham residence. Chris then exited the vehicle and began banging on Floyd’s window.
Floyd then instructed Kimberly to get out of his pickup truck, which she did within a few seconds, and walked to the south side of the alley, out of the way in the bushes. At this point, according to Floyd, he backed up in order to get around Chris’s Trailblazer, which he brushed with his truck, before pulling forward and heading east through the alley.
After leaving the alley, Floyd said he went to the river to smoke a cigarette when Chris called him from Kimberly’s phone and accused him of running her over, which Floyd didn’t believe was possible. He then headed to Browning where he had been planning to go the following morning to visit with his cousin.
When Floyd woke up on his cousin’s couch in Browning on the morning of June 18 at about 7 a.m., he said he noticed missed calls from his mom and Melissa Floyd, who was his wife at the time, along with Detective Cody Shields.
Up until this point, he said he wasn’t aware law enforcement was looking for him.
During cross examination from Montana Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Eric Kitzmiller, prosecutors pointed to Floyd’s interview with Detective Shields later that day when he said he backed his truck out of the alley and denied driving forward.
But after Detective Shields informed the defendant about surveillance footage that conflicted with his statement, he changed his story and told law enforcement that he drove forward and east out of the alley.
“That was only after being confronted with evidence from the Martin City Fire Hall,” Kitzmiller said.
After the jury was excused, Judge Wilson revoked Floyd’s release order and the defendant was remanded to the custody of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, citing “concerns based on his conduct in the case.”
“I find that he made false statements knowingly to officers and I find he testified falsely today as well, and I have real concerns that just like that night, he’s going to flee, and I’m going to make sure he’s in this courtroom on Monday for the continuation of trial,” Judge Wilson said.