Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The killer will not face a death sentence under the plea agreement.
YOUNGSTOWN — The prosecution wants Gregg A. Jenkins to serve 26 years to life in prison for robbing and beating to death his neighbor, Robin L. Kellar, last Dec. 15 and setting her ablaze in her Compass West apartment in Austintown.
Martin P. Desmond, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, called for that sentence Monday as Jenkins entered guilty pleas to aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated arson with a firearm specification.
“This is a just result. This is a stiff sentence,” Desmond said of his recommendation.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, revoked Jenkins’ $1 million bond and ordered that he remain jailed pending sentencing at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 7.
In the plea agreement, which the judge approved, Desmond dropped the death penalty specifications and a second aggravated arson count against Jenkins, 32, of Compass West.
Desmond told the judge he was dropping the death penalty specifications because of Jenkins’ lack of a prior criminal record. Also, the defense could have shown that Kellar was the initial aggressor, that she was a drug dealer supplying drugs for Jenkins to sell and that the slaying arose from a drug-related dispute.
The prosecution also dropped a second aggravated murder count and a simple murder count, which it would have presented to the jury as alternative charges had the case gone to trial, Desmond said.
The county coroner ruled Kellar’s death a homicide and said she suffered a skull fracture and died from a blunt-force head injury.
Kellar, 45, wasn’t shot, but was beaten, possibly with a gun, police said.
If Jenkins is released from prison, he’ll be on parole for five years, the judge said.