Kevin Gavin, 71, “acted as a serial killer” inside the New York City Housing Authority’s Carter G. Woodson Houses on Powell Street -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited
(Reach Publishing Services Limited)
A Brownsville handyman accused of terrorizing his own apartment complex by killing three elderly neighbors has pleaded guilty to murder and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Kevin Gavin, 71, “acted as a serial killer” inside the New York City Housing Authority’s Carter G. Woodson Houses on Powell Street, targeting women who trusted him for help with repairs and errands before attacking them in their apartments in killings spanning from 2015 to 2021.
According to prosecutors, the victims all lived in the same NYCHA building as Gavin. The first killing occurred on or about November 8, 2015, when Myrtle McKinney, 82, was fatally stabbed in the neck inside her apartment.
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“This defendant is an alleged serial killer who murdered three of his elderly neighbors who trusted him and welcomed him into their homes only to have that trust violated in the worst way imaginable,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
“These victims were beloved mothers, grandmothers, and beloved friends whose violent deaths have had a chilling effect inside their housing complex and on the Brownsville community.”
Gavin’s killing spree started in November of 2015, when he stabbed 82-year-old Myrtle McKinney in the neck with a steak knife inside her apartment. McKinney’s death was thought to be caused by a heart attack until a funeral director found a small stab wound in her neck, kicking off a murder investigation.
Kevin Gavin, is charged with the deaths of Juanita Caballero, Myrtle McKinney and Jacolia James
Years later, on or about April 30, 2019, Jacolia James, 83, was killed inside her home. In the district attorney’s account of the case, Gavin admitted stomping on her neck and chest. Previous reports had described the death as a strangulation.
The third killing happened on January 14, 2021, when prosecutors said Gavin robbed 78-year-old Juanita Caballero and strangled her by wrapping a phone cord around her neck during a home invasion at around 10 am.
After Caballero’s death, surveillance video allegedly captured Gavin using her debit and benefit cards at multiple locations, investigators said. He was arrested on January 21, 2021, by NYPD officers from Brooklyn North Homicide and the 73rd Precinct, and later confessed to all three murders, according to the district attorney’s office.
Following his arrest, Gavin told investigators he had argued with each woman over money he claimed they owed him. He also claimed that fights preceded their deaths.
Prosecutors say he used his role doing odd jobs around the complex to gain access to residents’ homes.
The killings shook the Woodson Houses for years, residents and officials said at the time, sparking calls for stronger security in NYCHA buildings and criticism that concerns raised by tenants were not taken seriously.
Juanita Caballero was found dead inside her apartment on Jan. 14, 2021
“This is an instance of what we feel, once again, is systemic racism where Black lives have not in fact been afforded the resources and the time and attention to investigate complaints of people who live here and know what’s going on,” Councilmember Inez Barron, whose district includes Brownsville, said at a news conference outside the building in January 2021. “We’re saying that we’ve got to have systemic change.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Cassandra Pond under the supervision of Homicide Bureau Chief Leila Rosini, the district attorney’s office said.
The plea carries a promised sentence of 30 years to life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for May 20, 2026.