In the summer of 2016, the life of 29-year-old Eric Bivins, a Black male from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was tragically cut short. On June 11, inside a Hill District apartment, Bivins was shot and killed as he lay on a couch. The act was sudden and without any apparent immediate provocation. Witnesses reported that Jenkins 'Jynx' Everett, then 26, fired a pistol multiple times, striking Bivins in the head and chest. Despite being armed himself, Bivins was not perceived as a threat to anyone in the apartment at the time of the shooting.
Following the fatal shooting, Everett, with the assistance of two other individuals, took measures to conceal the crime. They wrapped Bivins's body, carried it out of the Bedford Avenue apartment building, and placed it into a white SUV. The body was then transported to a wooded area near the intersection of Beelen and Mohawk streets in West Oakland and left there. At some point, Everett returned to the location and attempted to set the body on fire. Three days after the shooting, on June 14, Bivins was reported missing by his mother, initiating an investigation that would soon uncover the grim details of his disappearance.
The breakthrough in the case came when detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the apartment building. The video captured Bivins entering the building, as well as Everett and two others going in and out, at one point carrying what appeared to be a body. Investigators were able to track down the two individuals who helped move the body. One of these witnesses led police to the location where Bivins's remains had been left. His body was discovered on June 26 and he was identified by his tattoos. After a months-long manhunt, Jenkins Everett was located and arrested on October 17, 2016, at a home on Rochelle Street in Knoxville after a foot chase.
Jenkins Everett was charged with homicide, conspiracy, and gun violations. In March 2018, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, criminal conspiracy, and two firearms violations. His defense attorney claimed that Everett acted in self-defense, believing Bivins intended to rob him. However, witnesses stated that Bivins was on the couch and not holding his weapon when he was shot. In June 2018, Everett was sentenced to 7½ to 17½ years in prison for the killing of Eric Bivins. This sentence was to be served consecutively to a 20-month federal prison sentence he received for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. The two men who assisted Everett in moving the body were not charged in connection with the case.
