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Redlands man found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of twin sisters, brother-in-law

May 1, 2026

A jury convicted a Redlands man of three counts of first-degree murder late Thursday afternoon, April 30, setting the stage for the penalty phase next week that will determine whether Eric Otto White will spend the rest of his life in state prison or be committed to death.

Superior Court Judge Cheryl C. Kersey read the verdicts as White, 63, wearing a gray suit, stood and faced jurors at the San Bernardino Justice Center.

News of the verdict, reached at the end of the first day of deliberations, caused family members of the victims and other court observers to scramble to reach the sixth-floor courtroom before the jury forewoman handed in the verdict forms at 4:30 p.m.

The same jury will hear opening statements and testimony starting Tuesday. Because of a special-circumstances allegation of multiple first-degree murders, they can recommend capital punishment or life without the possibility of parole. Judge Kersey will then affirm the decision or, in what would be a rare instance, make her own choice.

Three supporters of the victims leaned on each other and cried when the verdicts were read.

Alicia Sutton, daughter of victim Kavona Kimberly Brooks-Lee, 39, had few words afterward.

“Sad, but finally,” Sutton said.

Around 1:25 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2020, White, who lived with girlfriend Kavina Madison Brooks, came home with a gun on his hip after arguing with her the day before. In a span of five minutes, White gunned down Brooks-Lee; Brooks, 39, the twin sister of Brooks-Lee; and Kenneth Lee, 54, who was Brooks-Lee’s husband.

White then fled, changing his clothes and flying to Las Vegas.

District Attorney Jason Anderson declined to comment afterward, as did defense attorney James Gass.

Gass had argued for second-degree murder convictions, which would have carried sentences of 15 years to life. Gass said White had a history of mental illness and brain injuries.

Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker told jurors that the shooting stemmed from White sensing a loss of control.

Brooks’ daughter, Zanorra Brooks Killebrew, who was 14 at the time of the attack, was wounded by gunfire but survived.

She testified that White disapproved of her mother’s parenting. White was upset that Brooks touched his beloved karaoke speaker. And Killebrew testified that Brooks, days before the shooting, suggested that White could move out and that she would find “someone else.”

Orange County Register

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Redlands man found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of twin sisters, brother-in-law

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