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'It didn't have to end with someone getting killed' | Triad family gets step closer to closure with arrest made in brother's death

Timothy Kuchinski was killed in October 2023. Police in Colorado found the man accused of killing Sunday.

REIDSVILLE, N.C. — A Triad family got a step closer to closure on Monday. 

Timothy Kuchinshi died in a shooting in October, officers arrested a suspect Sunday. 

Timothy’s loved ones said they're very thankful to law enforcement. They didn’t think the police would find the suspect as soon as they did.  

Tuesday will make it exactly three months since Samantha and Isaiah Kuchinshi have had to live life without their brother.  

"I wish he would’ve been here to celebrate Christmas," Samantha Kuchinshi said. "Instead of us decorating where he spent the last moments of his life."

Samantha and Isaiah came back to the site where Reidsville police said they found their brother lying shot in the street.  

"This is where they found him. He took his last breath out here," Samantha said. "He died from a loss of oxygen to his brain."  

The Kuchinshi’s decorate the spot on Barnes Street every holiday to honor 26-year-old Timothy Kuchinshi.  

"To me it keeps his presence alive," Samantha said. 

It’s helped them get through three months of waiting for answers while police searched for their brother's killer.  

 "It's been rough. He passed away on October 23," Samantha said. "His birthday was November 5th."

Even though nothing can ever bring Timothy back family got a sense of relief over the weekend when they learned police in Colorado arrested the suspect, James McDaniel Jr.

"It didn't have to end with someone getting killed," Isaiah said. "I'd like to thank law enforcement for apprehending him. Getting him locked up and taking a murderer off the streets." 

Family said Mcdaniel Jr. was a friend of Timothy’s.  

 "I don’t know what happened between them that night or what caused him to shoot and kill my brother, but they were friends," Samantha Kuchinski said. "They met over Facebook."

Getting a step further in the investigation gives the family hope justice will be served.  

"He didn't have the best life, but he always managed everything that was going on in his life," Samantha Kuchinski said. "He cared so much for others. He should still be here." 

James McDaniel Jr. is back in Rockingham County facing several charges including first-degree murder.  

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