Serial killer pleads guilty to deaths of 3 women in Brooklyn senior housing complex

U.S. newsSerial killer pleads guilty to deaths of 3 women in Brooklyn senior housing complexKevin Gavin, 71, had admitted to the murders of three women who lived in the apartment complex between 2015 and 2021, authorities said.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 24, 2026, 8:19 PM EDTBy Dennis RomeroA 71-year-old described by prosecutors as a handyman pleaded guilty Friday to the murders of three women at the same apartment complex who had hired him for help, authorities said.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Kevin Gavin admitted to killing the three women between 2015 and 2021, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said in a statement, which described Gavin as a “serial killer inside his own apartment building.”Gavin pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of 30 years to life in prison, the office said in a statement.“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 in the statement. “These victims were vulnerable neighbors who deserved safety and dignity, and instead had their lives stolen by someone they believed was there to help.”The defendant’s lawyer had no comment.Woodson Houses in Brooklyn, New York.Google MapsGavin lived at the New York City Housing Authority’s Carter G. Woodson Houses, a circa-1970 public housing complex for seniors in Brooklyn, where Myrtle McKinney, 82, Jacolia James, 83, and Juanita Caballero, 78, were killed in their apartments. McKinney was stabbed in the neck with a knife on Nov. 8, 2015, the DA’s office said.She had moved into the building more than 10 years prior as a retired housekeeper from Jamaica who had worked in Florida and the Bahamas, New York Magazine reported in an article about t...