Expert warns of \u2018opportunistic\u2019 lion attacks across California after pet killings – 4 ways to stay safe<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThis 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,\u201d Gonzalez said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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Kevin Gavin, is charged with the deaths of Juanita Caballero, Myrtle McKinney and Jacolia James<\/p>\n
Years later, on or about April 30, 2019, Jacolia James, 83, was killed inside her home. In the district attorney\u2019s account of the case, Gavin admitted stomping on her neck and chest. Previous reports had described the death as a strangulation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
After Caballero\u2019s 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\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say he used his role doing odd jobs around the complex to gain access to residents\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"Juanita](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/71c7d32e43d23ff07cfa43649c802197.jpeg\"\/)
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Juanita Caballero was found dead inside her apartment on Jan. 14, 2021<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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\u2019s going on,\u201d Councilmember Inez Barron, whose district includes Brownsville, said at a news conference outside the building in January 2021. \u201cWe\u2019re saying that we\u2019ve got to have systemic change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Cassandra Pond under the supervision of Homicide Bureau Chief Leila Rosini, the district attorney\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
The plea carries a promised sentence of 30 years to life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for May 20, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Gavin, 71, \u201cacted as a serial killer\u201d inside the New York City Housing Authority\u2019s Carter G. Woodson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[23268,98,100,99,6616,82911,82908,5533,82913,82906,82912,9,24,63,305,6381],"class_list":["post-209226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-apartment-complex","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brownsville","tag-carter-g-woodson-houses","tag-elderly-neighbors","tag-eric-gonzalez","tag-juanita-caballero","tag-kevin-gavin","tag-killing-spree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nycha","tag-serial-killer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d3729a9886beeb3e047cf4029b4bc192.jpeg\"\/)
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