Jury finds argument over dirty dishes led to roommate's murder

A jury Wednesday found a Pittsburgh woman guilty of third-degree murder in her roommate’s death — even though, police said, her boyfriend fired the fatal shot.

Prosecutors said Destiny Jenkins drew a gun and tried to fire it at her roommate, Eddie Kimber.

But when the gun jammed, Jenkins told police, she handed it to her boyfriend.

That man, Lee McGinnis, then fired three rounds, investigators said, killing the victim.

“We are here because she set into motion a chain of events,” Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Shreya Desai told the jury in her closing argument earlier in the day. “They, together, shot and killed Eddie Kimber.”

The jury rendered its verdict after less than five hours of deliberations.

Jenkins, 24, will be sentenced within 90 days. McGinnis, 25, is scheduled for trial in November.

Pittsburgh police were called to Sharon Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes neighborhood around 4:25 p.m. on Sept. 16 for a shooting.

They found Kimber, who had been shot in his lower back, on an upstairs bedroom floor. He died a short time later.

Jenkins and McGinnis were arrested about an hour later at a Sunoco gas station about a mile away.

Accomplice liability

Kimber’s brother, Jenkins Kimber, told police the group had been arguing over dirty dishes just before the shooting.

That argument, Desai told the jury, escalated into a physical altercation, with Jenkins attacking Jenkins Kimber as he attempted to walk upstairs. He testified Monday that she struck him in the head repeatedly.

It was then, Desai said, that Jenkins pulled out her gun.

“She introduced a deadly weapon into a verbal argument over dirty dishes,” Desai said.

Even though Jenkins didn’t fire the fatal shot, Desai told the jury that she is equally responsible for the death under the legal concept of accomplice liability.

“One person can be held liable for the actions of another if they are carrying out a common goal,” Desai said. “If you find they acted together, the defendant can and should be held liable for what Mr. McGinnis did, as well.”

The brother’s statement

Defense attorney Joe Otte told the jury in his closing that all of the evidence in the case pointed to McGinnis.

His hands were positive for particles of gunshot residue, Otte said. His fingerprint was found on the gun’s magazine.

More than that, Otte questioned how, after two days of testimony, it was still unclear to him what the prosecution’s theory of the case was.

“The prosecution did not tell you who the shooter was in their opening,” he said. “That’s a problem.”

But, he continued, Jenkins Kimber made it clear in his initial comments to police that day, when he said repeatedly, “her boyfriend shot my brother.”

Otte discounted his client’s interview with detectives in which she said she pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.

The defense attorney said it was clear at the time that Jenkins was trying to protect her boyfriend. Otherwise, Otte said, how could Jenkins have gotten the firearm out at the same time that she was assaulting Jenkins Kimber on the stairwell.

“If she is on top of him, then how does she pass off the gun to her boyfriend who shot him?” he asked. “Everything about her statement is designed to protect Lee McGinnis.”