Brooklyn serial killer who admitted murdering 3 elderly women sentenced to 30 years in prison

A Brooklyn man who admitted murdering three elderly women was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Wednesday. 

Kevin Gavin, 71, pleaded guilty in April to murdering the three women in their NYCHA apartments. The women had hired him to help with repairs and errands. He fatally stabbed one, stomped another to death, and strangled the third. 

Gavin pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. 

The killings took place in the Carter G. Woodson Houses in Brownsville between 2015 and 2021. 

"These were acts of shocking depravity and cruelty against three elderly women who should have been safe inside their own homes," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "Myrtle McKinney, Jacolia James and Juanita Caballero were beloved members of their families and their community, and this defendant exploited their trust, entered their homes, and took their lives with brutal violence. The pain he inflicted on their loved ones is immeasurable, and today's sentence cannot undo that grief, but it ensures that he will spend the rest of his life in prison and never again prey on another vulnerable neighbor."

McKinney, 82, was stabbed to death in November 2015. James, 83, was stomped to death in April 2019. Caballero, 78, was strangled with a phone cord in January 2021. 

Police apprehended Gavin after Caballero's killing. He could be seen on surveillance video using her credit card at various spots. Once he was arrested, he confessed to the killings, saying the murders all started as disputes about money he claimed the victims owed him, prosecutors said.