The verdict followed testimony about a household argument, a gun, and a family torn apart in 2020.

REDLANDS, Calif. — A San Bernardino County jury has convicted Eric Otto White of first-degree murder in a 2020 shooting that killed his girlfriend, her twin sister and her brother-in-law after an argument inside a Redlands home.

The verdict, reached April 30, moves the case from a long murder trial into a penalty phase that could decide whether White, 63, receives life in prison or the death penalty. Prosecutors said the attack grew from anger over control in the home, including a dispute about a karaoke speaker and White’s objections to his girlfriend’s parenting.

White was accused of killing Kavina Madison Brooks, Kavona Kimberly Brooks-Lee and Kenneth Lee after police were called to the 900 block of Carlson Avenue around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2020. Brooks and Lee were pronounced dead at the scene, while Brooks-Lee was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died after being placed on life support. Trial testimony described the moments before the shooting as chaotic and direct. Kavina Brooks shouted, “Calm down!” after White pulled a gun, while Lee told him, “You’re threatening somebody’s life,” according to testimony reported during the trial. Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker told jurors in closing arguments that White reached “the fork in the road” and chose murder.

The case rested on a mix of emergency records, charging documents, family testimony and courtroom accounts of the final hours inside the home. Prosecutors said White used a handgun and fired repeatedly at the people closest to Brooks. Brooks’ daughter, Zanorra Brooks Killebrew, was 14 at the time and testified that White had been angry about her mother’s parenting and about Brooks touching his karaoke speaker. She also testified that, the day before the shooting, her mother told White he could move out and that she would find someone else. The daughter survived the attack. Early family accounts said she hid during the violence, while later trial coverage described her as one of the people injured in the shooting. Court filings from 2020 first charged White with two murders and one attempted murder before the case later reflected the death of Brooks-Lee.

The killings stunned a neighborhood in Redlands, a city east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, and led to a search that stretched beyond California. Police initially said a 59-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman were killed, and that a second woman was in critical condition. A $3 million arrest warrant was issued for White, then described as a Phoenix man. Authorities said he was believed to have fled in a silver or tan 2003 Nissan Altima with dark-tinted windows and Arizona plates. Family members said the violence left three relatives dead and one child traumatized. A family fundraiser described the victims as “brutally shot,” while relatives mourned the twin sisters and Lee as one household tragedy rather than separate losses.

White’s defense focused on his mental health while challenging the level of intent required for first-degree murder. Defense attorney James Rankin Gass argued that White had been diagnosed with serious mental illness and should not be convicted of first-degree murder. A forensic and clinical psychologist, John Matthew Fabian, testified that White had schizoaffective disorder and a history of bipolar and depressive episodes, and that he was not taking medication at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors countered that White’s actions before, during and after the killings showed planning and awareness. They pointed to the sequence of shots, the reported dispute over Brooks’ request that he move out, and his flight from California after the killings.

The procedural record shows how the case changed as the investigation developed. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office filed charges in September 2020, naming Brooks and Lee as murder victims and Brooks-Lee as an attempted murder victim. The complaint alleged that White personally and intentionally discharged a handgun causing great bodily injury and death. It also alleged a prior serious or violent felony conviction from 1981. After Brooks-Lee died, the case proceeded as a triple murder prosecution. White was arrested in Las Vegas several weeks after the shooting by a fugitive apprehension team and later returned to San Bernardino County. The trial ended nearly six years after the gunfire on Carlson Avenue.

In court, prosecutors framed the shootings as the result of a man trying to hold power over a domestic relationship. Crocker told jurors the shooting “stemmed from White sensing a loss of control,” according to trial accounts. That theme ran through testimony about the karaoke speaker, parenting disagreements and Brooks’ statement that White should leave. The defense did not deny the depth of the loss but argued that White’s mental state mattered to the legal outcome. Jurors rejected the request for a lesser finding and convicted White of first-degree murder. The verdict left the penalty question open, with the jury expected to recommend a sentence and Judge Cheryl Kersey to decide whether to adopt it or impose her own.

Family members described the verdict as both painful and overdue. Alicia Sutton, Brooks-Lee’s daughter, said the conviction was “sad, but finally,” a short statement that captured the length of the case and the weight of the outcome. The deaths removed three adults from the same family circle in minutes, leaving relatives to attend hearings, follow court filings and hear testimony about an argument that ended in gunfire. The case also kept public attention on the surviving child, whose testimony gave jurors a direct account of the household tensions before the shooting. By the end of trial, the jury had heard about anger over a speaker, a threatened breakup, gunfire and flight, then decided those facts proved first-degree murder.

The next stage will determine whether he receives death or a life sentence in a case that began with a 2020 call about shots fired and ended its guilt phase with three murder convictions. White remains in custody as the case moves toward sentencing.

Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.