Aserial killerwho preyed on his elderly neighbors in a public housing development has pleaded guilty to three murders in exchange for a sentence of 30 years to life in prison, prosecutors say.
Kevin Gavin, 71 of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder on April 24, for the killings he committed from 2015 to 2021 in the New York City Housing Authority’s Carter G. Woodson Houses, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in astatement. The victims trusted Gavin for help with running errands and repairs, the district attorney's office said.
Gavin, who lived in the same building, killed Myrtle McKinney, 82, in 2015; Jacolia James, 83, in 2019; and Juanita Caballero, 78, in 2021. He was caught after he used Caballero's debit card, authorities said.
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After his arrest in 2021, Gavin confessed to all three murders, the district attorney's office said.
"This defendant exploited elderly women who trusted him, gained access to their homes, and murdered them in a series of brutal attacks that shocked the conscience. These victims were vulnerable neighbors who deserved safety and dignity, and instead had their lives stolen by someone they believed was there to help," Gonzalez said.
Serial killer went undetected for years
The first victim, McKinney, was found dead in her Brownsville neighborhood apartment in November 2015 by her home health aide, Reuters reported at the time. She had been stabbed in the neck with a knife, but at first, authorities attributed her death to natural causes and no autopsy was initially performed.
It wasn't until weeks later that a funeral director preparing McKinney's body for burial noticed the stab wound, reported theNew York Timesin 2015. After the discovery, police began investigating her death as a murder. An autopsy then found her cause of death was the stabbing and blunt force injuries to her head and torso, according to the Times.
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James was killed on about April 30, 2019, when Gavin "stomped" on her neck and chest, the district attorney's office said.
"She didn't deserve this," Edward James, her son, toldNBC4 New Yorkat the time.
The 2019 killing led the victim's loved ones to advocate for security cameras in the public housing building, NBC4 reported.
DNA from Jacolia James' body was matched to Gavin, authorities said after he was eventually arrested.
It wasn't until 2021 that Gavin was apprehended, after the third murder. Authorities said he strangled Caballero by wrapping a telephone cord around her neck while robbing her on about Jan. 14, 2021. She wasfound dead by her son.
"My mother was brutally murdered, brutally murdered,” Steven Caballero said, according to theTimes. "I can never get the vision of seeing my mother out of my eyes."
Gavin was caught on camera using Caballero's debit card at multiple locations, authorities said. He was arrested Jan. 21, 2021. He told investigators he argued with each victim over money he said they owed him, the district attorney's office said in 2021 when it announced charges.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Serial killer pleads guilty to murdering elderly women in NYC housing