Daily Voice
By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice
An Easton gang member with a violent past has been convicted of brutally killing his Facebook friend, 18-year-old Tyrell Holmes, stabbing him before setting him on fire while he was still alive, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced in a release on Monday, June 3.
A Northampton County jury previously found Alkiohn Dunkins, 26, guilty of first-degree murder and related charges after seven days of testimony detailing the 2018 killing. Holmes was discovered near a dumpster outside an apartment complex, suffering from four stab wounds to his neck and torso, authorities said.
Dunkins was a member of a gang called “Money Rules Everything,” alongside three others charged in the murder: Yzire Jenkins-Rowe, 28, of Collegeville; Miles Harper, 26, of Allentown; and Zahmire Welcome, 26, of Whitehall.
According to the new release, Jenkins-Rowe pleaded guilty on Monday to third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson. He was sentenced to 27½ to 60 years in state prison by a Northampton County judge.
“This defendant and his co-defendants callously took the life of someone who considered them friends,” Sunday said. “This dangerous individual will be held accountable while spending decades incarcerated.”
Investigators learned Holmes had lived with Jenkins-Rowe and Dunkins for a time and had confided in others that he feared they would kill him. Authorities later found phone records, surveillance footage, and other evidence linking the four defendants to the killing.
Alkiohn Dunkins's Facebook profile showing his friend list which includes murder man, Tyrell Holmes.
Harper previously pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and is awaiting sentencing. Welcome’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 29. Dunkins, whose jury conviction was announced earlier this year, is now set to be sentenced on June 24.
Holmes, remembered by loved ones as a “vibrant” young man taken too soon, was laid to rest following services at Second Baptist Church in Bethlehem, according to Jesse Johnson Funeral Home. His tribute wall was filled with memories, candles, and messages of grief.
Dunkins had a prior conviction for robbery, conspiracy, and assault stemming from a separate incident in which he posed as a campus police officer and robbed drug dealers at gunpoint while attending Moravian College. That conviction resulted in a five- to 10-year prison sentence.
Senior Deputy Attorneys General Christopher Phillips and Katherine McDermott prosecuted the case.
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