ST. LOUIS — A 73-year-old St. Louis man pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering his neighbor and hiding her body.
In an emotional plea hearing, David Leonard Harvey asked family members of Carolyn Jenkins for forgiveness, to which they responded, "That's between you and God."
Harvey pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, burglary, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to 20 years for the murder count, five years for burglary and four years each for abandonment of a course and tampering. All sentences are to run concurrently.
"This is the second time you are in here for murder," the judge told Harvey in court Thursday. "What you did was destroy a family and for the next 20 years, I hope you think of that."
Harvey was charged in 2015 for murdering a pregnant woman, 33-year-old India Blake, but he was acquitted in 2018. Family believes if he was in jail, he never would've killed their mother.
In court, Jenkins' daughter Carla Smith told the judge in a victim statement, "He treated her like nothing and she was our everything."
She called Harvey evil and added, "Her life will shine forever."
“The defendant had a long criminal history that culminated in this murder,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “His actions after the victim’s death show his lack of decency. The guilty plea and sentencing cannot bring her back, but hopefully will bring closure for her family.”
Following the hearing, Smith spoke to reporters.
She said, "We knew he was guilty, but it just kind of gives us some relief that he just finally told the truth, that he finally told the truth. It's been 'not guilty' for two years."
Smith described her mother as an amazing woman, the life of the party and someone who brought joy to any room.
"She would definitely be proud. My mother is a fighter and she fought for the family. She knew that there was no way we were not going to see this through. She would know that. She's smiling right now, I really believe it," Smith said.
Lawsuit
Surveillance video showed Harvey, who was Jenkins' neighbor, wheeling her body out of her St. Louis apartment in 2022. Her body was later found yards away from the apartment complex.
Jenkins' daughter and son, Claude Lacy Jr., sued the apartment complex, Sansone Group, which is the company that manages the complex, and Anthony's Empire Security, which provides security at the complex.
According to the lawsuit, prior to June 2022, Jenkins was involved in a relationship with Harvey. Smith said they were neighbors.
After the relationship ended, the lawsuit claims Jenkins was repeatedly harassed by Harvey. The harassment included illegally entering her apartment, going through her personal items and accessing her apartment with a key obtained from management.
Smith said her mom complained to management at Metropolitan Village Apartments multiple times about the repeated harassment and break-ins. She said her mom even called police and changed the locks on her apartment.
The lawsuit said there are video cameras in the hallways documenting all of the alleged criminal activity.
According to the lawsuit and a probable cause statement, Harvey entered Jenkins' unit and murdered her. John Day, who worked at the apartment complex, then helped Harvey move her body.
Day has since pleaded guilty to charges of evidence tampering and abandonment of a corpse for helping Harvey dispose of Jenkins' body. He received a two-year suspended sentence.
"She had gone down to get her mail and the murderer followed her back up to her apartment and killed her there. Our private autopsy revealed that she was stabbed seven times," Smith said.
Police initially responded to Jenkins' apartment for a wellness check only to find her apartment in disarray and a small pool of blood on the apartment floor.
A police detective working on the case said a review of the surveillance footage showed Harvey follow Smith to her apartment door and rush inside behind her before closing the door.
Several minutes passed before Harvey left Smith's apartment and locked the door behind him.
At about 2 a.m., Harvey and Day re-entered the apartment, loaded Jenkins' body onto a dolly and wheeled it outside.
Prosecutors showed the family the footage, which shows a man wheeling a cart onto an elevator and past an Anthony's Empire Security employee.
As the family watched the video, they said they noticed her blanket wrapped around her and her foot sticking out.
The lawsuit said despite seeing this on video, Anthony's Empire Security failed to investigate Jenkins' safety.
"Nothing was done to safeguard my mother and prevent this from happening. So many different systems failed us," Smith said. "Everyone needs to be held accountable for the negligence."
Not only does the family blame the security team for not doing more, but they also point fingers at the apartment complex and managing team.
Since Metropolitan Village Apartments and Sansone Group receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, they are authorized to screen applicants and prohibit admission if illegal drug use or violent crimes are happening.
The lawsuit explained under the regulations, the companies are authorized to evict or terminate tenants for various criminal activities that threaten the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents.
The lawsuit said Harvey lived at Metropolitan Village Apartments since 2001 and pointed to a list of Harvey's criminal history, including his 2015 acquittal in India Blake's killing.
Harvey lived at the apartment complex at that time.
Harvey also has previous convictions dating back to the 1980s, ranging from assault, drug possession and unlawful use of a weapon.
Jenkins' family is asking a jury trial for the civil suit and at least $25,000 from each party for negligence.
5 On Your Side reached out to the parties named in the lawsuit and has not heard back from them.
"This entire situation is a tragedy–an avoidable tragedy," Smith and Lacy's attorney, David Grebel said. "Had HUD safety regulations been followed this dangerous individual never would have had the chance to cause harm to Ms. Jenkins. We can only hope Ms. Jenkins’ tragic death serves as a wake up call to this and other landlords to take appropriate steps to protect their tenants from known dangerous individuals."