A Pittsburgh man has been sentenced to up to 20 years behind bars for the shooting death of his roommate after a dispute escalated over the state of cleanliness in their shared home. Lee McGinnis, 26, of South Side Slopes, faced judgment for involuntary manslaughter in the case against his roommate, Eddie Kimber, a Liberian refugee, who suffered a tragic end to his American dream. According to a WPXI report, the altercation unfolded on Sharon Street on Sept. 16, 2024, and resulted in Kimber, wounded by a gunshot, succumbing to his injuries in the hospital.
The incident originally stemmed from a confrontation about the cleanliness of dishes in the house. Kimber’s brother attempted to defuse the situation but was struck by McGinnis’ girlfriend, Destiny Jenkins, who police stated turned out to also be living at the residence. In a failure to first discharge the weapon herself, Jenkins handed it to McGinnis, who then fired the shots that killed Kimber. A witness corroborated this sequence of events as the fight turned deadly. Both McGinnis and Jenkins attempted to flee, but the authorities detained them at a gas station shortly afterward, as described in a TribLive article.
McGinnis received a sentence of 10-20 years after being convicted by a jury for what authorities have declared a case of involuntary manslaughter. Concurrently, Destiny Jenkins was found guilty of third-degree murder and received a 9-18-year sentence. This outcome was delivered by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Elliot Howsie and follows an emotionally charged trial where the victim’s family expressed profound loss over Eddie Kimber, praising him as “someone I could always count on,” as recounted in a victim-impact statement shared by Kimber’s brother, detailed by TribLive. His family sought the American dream; instead, they found a nightmarish end to their quest…