Jurors found Eric Otto White guilty despite testimony about schizoaffective disorder and medication lapses.
REDLANDS, Calif. — Jurors rejected a mental health defense and convicted Eric Otto White of first-degree murder in a Redlands shooting that killed his girlfriend, her twin sister and her brother-in-law.
The April 30 verdict ended the guilt phase of a trial that asked jurors to weigh psychiatric testimony against evidence of intent, flight and domestic conflict. White, 63, was convicted in the deaths of Kavina Madison Brooks, Kavona Kimberly Brooks-Lee and Kenneth Lee after prosecutors said he opened fire inside Brooks’ home in 2020.
The defense did not center its case on whether the three adults were shot. Instead, White’s attorney, James Rankin Gass, argued that jurors should consider White’s mental illness when deciding the degree of murder. A forensic and clinical psychologist, John Matthew Fabian, testified that White had schizoaffective disorder and a history of bipolar and depressive episodes. Fabian said White was not taking medication at the time of the shooting. That testimony aimed at a specific legal question: whether White acted with the planning and deliberation required for first-degree murder. Gass urged jurors to consider second-degree murder instead, a lesser finding that would have changed the punishment White faced.
Prosecutors answered with evidence they said showed decision-making before and after the gunfire. Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker argued that the shooting came from White’s fear that he was losing control over Brooks and the household. Brooks’ daughter, Zanorra Brooks Killebrew, testified that White disapproved of her mother’s parenting and became angry after Brooks touched his karaoke speaker. She also said Brooks had told White one day before the shooting that he could move out and that she could replace him with someone else. Crocker told jurors that White reached “the fork in the road” and chose murder. He described the attack as “shot after shot after shot after shot,” stressing repetition rather than a single impulsive act.
The facts surrounding the shooting were grim and largely undisputed in their outcome. Redlands police responded to the 900 block of Carlson Avenue about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2020, after reports of shots fired. Brooks and Lee were dead at the scene. Brooks-Lee was critically wounded and later died after being hospitalized and placed on life support. Court filings alleged that White personally and intentionally discharged a handgun causing death and great bodily injury. Early charges listed two murders and one attempted murder, reflecting Brooks-Lee’s condition at the time. The case later proceeded as a triple murder prosecution after her death.
The courtroom record included a set of words spoken before the shots that became important to both the emotional and legal picture. Brooks told White, “Calm down!” after he pulled a gun. Lee told him, “You’re threatening somebody’s life.” Those warnings showed that others in the room understood the danger and tried to stop it. Prosecutors used them to frame White as someone who had time to hear, process and continue. The defense viewed the same scene through White’s psychiatric history, arguing that mental illness shaped his conduct. Jurors ultimately sided with the prosecution and found first-degree murder.
White’s conduct after the shooting also worked against the defense. Police said he fled, and authorities later tracked him to Las Vegas. Early law enforcement accounts described a search for a Phoenix man in a silver or tan Nissan Altima. Family members said White returned to the house after the shooting, changed clothes and altered the vehicle’s appearance or plates. While those claims came from relatives, the broader fact of flight was supported by the later Las Vegas arrest. Prosecutors used flight to argue that White understood the seriousness of what he had done. In a trial where mental state was the central dispute, conduct after the crime became part of the evidence jurors could consider.
The complaint filed in 2020 added other legal weight. It alleged three counts tied to murder or attempted murder and firearm enhancements involving personal use and intentional discharge of a handgun. It also alleged that White had a prior serious or violent felony conviction dating to 1981 in San Bernardino County. Those filings did not decide the trial, but they showed the prosecution’s view from the start: this was not a domestic disturbance that turned tragic by accident, but a violent felony case with aggravating allegations. By trial, the death of Brooks-Lee had sharpened the charge structure and raised the stakes of conviction.
The penalty phase now brings its own legal questions. White is eligible for the death penalty because of special-circumstances allegations tied to multiple first-degree murders. A jury will recommend a sentence, and Judge Cheryl Kersey will decide whether to adopt the recommendation or impose her own. The mental health evidence that failed to prevent a first-degree murder conviction could still be part of arguments over punishment. Prosecutors can point to three deaths, the use of a handgun and the family setting. Defense attorneys can point again to diagnosis, medication history and White’s age. The verdict settles guilt, but it does not end the court’s review of his life and conduct.
For the family, the legal debate unfolded beside personal loss. Brooks and Brooks-Lee were twin sisters, and Lee was Brooks-Lee’s husband. Brooks Killebrew, the surviving daughter, gave jurors a view of the household before the shooting and the terror during it. Alicia Sutton, Brooks-Lee’s daughter, described the conviction as “sad, but finally.” That short statement captured the strain of a case that required years of hearings and testimony before a jury returned its finding. It also showed the limits of a verdict: the court can assign guilt, but it cannot undo the deaths that brought the case there.
The next phase will decide whether the rejected mental health defense affects sentencing in a case now recorded as a first-degree triple murder conviction. White is still in custody while the court turns to punishment.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.