DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — KEVIN GAVIN, 71, of Brownsville, pleaded guilty before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Ann Riviezzo on Friday to three killings carried out over six years inside the New York City Housing Authority’s Carter G. Woodson Houses on Powell Street, according to a press release from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
Gavin entered pleas to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in exchange for a promised sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors say he lived in the building and performed odd jobs for fellow residents. He fatally stabbed Myrtle McKinney, 82, on Nov. 8, 2015 — a death initially ruled natural until a funeral director discovered a stab wound; he stomped on Jacolia James, 83, on April 30, 2019; and he strangled Juanita Caballero, 78, on Jan. 14, 2021. Each victim was killed in her own apartment.
“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,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Sentencing is scheduled for May 20.
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