Lowell man arraigned in killing
Boston woman stabbed more than 58 times, autopsy shows
LOWELL » A Lowell man is being held without bail following his arraignment in the Llewelyn Street killing of a Boston woman on Thanksgiving Day.
Leonard Robinson, 22, of Lowell, was arraigned in Lowell District Court Tuesday morning for the alleged murder of his onand-off girlfriend, Dejah Jenkins-minus, 22. He was ordered held without bail and without prejudice pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for Dec. 30.
Assistant District Attorney Tom Brant told the court that around 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Jenkins-minus drove from her Boston home to Robinson’s home on Llewelyn Street with her 2-month-old daughter after the two adults exchanged text messages. She was expected to return to the family home in Boston later that day for a Thanksgiving gathering, but never returned.
Brant said family members used an app on Jenkins-minus’ cellphone to ping her location, which showed that she was still at the Lowell address. Relatives drove by the home twice during the night, but it appeared empty and dark and Jenkins-minus’ car was not there.
On Friday morning, police responded to the Llewelyn Street home, where Robinson lived alone, to perform a wellbeing check on JenkinsMinus. A family member of Robinson also arrived and entered the home, where he found Jenkins-minus’ body in Robinson’s locked bedroom. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy conducted Saturday showed that Jenkins-minus had been stabbed more than 58 times. Police found a knife at the scene that was reported to be consistent with the weapon used in the killing.
Jenkins-minus’ baby was later located safe in Boston. Robinson was arrested in Boston over the weekend without incident.
Robinson was on release from Suffolk Superior Court on firearms charges at the time of Jenkins-minus’ death and had been required to wear a GPS tracker according to the conditions of his bail. The GPS showed Robinson at his home until about 2 p.m. Thursday, then showed him traveling south on Interstate 93 and arriving in Dorchester by 3 p.m. He appeared to have allegedly cut off the GPS bracelet at about 4:56 p.m., Brant said. He added that this timeline was consistent with that of the police investigation.
A neighbor also identified Robinson as having been in the driver seat of Jenkins-minus’ car for 15 to 20 minutes outside the Llewelyn Street home about 1:50 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The car was seen on surveillance footage leaving the street about 10 minutes later.
When he was arrested, Robinson claimed that he had not seen the victim in two weeks, Brant said. He said Robinson later changed his statement to say that she had come to his home Thursday, but he had not let her in, and she left.
Brant said that social media posts by Robinson showed that he had been questioning whether Jenkins-minus’ baby was his and considering getting a paternity test. Other posts showed that he was angry at the victim, and the prosecutor suggested that this may have been a motive for Robinson to kill her.
Family members of Jenkins-minus filled the first row of the courtroom, some comforting each other. When defense attorney George Murphy told the court that his client feared for his safety at the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction, many of the family members in attendance laughed, prompting court officers to quiet them down.
The family members declined to speak with reporters outside the courthouse.
Robinson was ordered to have no contact with any of the prosecution’s witnesses.
Robinson was on release from Suffolk Superior Court on fire arms charges at the time of JenkinsMinus’ death and had been required to wear a GPS tracker, according to the conditions of his bail.