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Alkiohn Dunkins, 26, was convicted of first-degree murder and related charges earlier this year in the 2018 slaying of 18-year-old Tyrell Holmes, who was found near a dumpster with four stab wounds to his neck and torso before being set ablaze while still alive.
Dunkins was sentenced to life in prison plus 23 to 50 years, and ordered to pay $9,622 in funeral costs to Holmes’ family. During sentencing, a heartbreaking statement from Holmes’ grandmother was read aloud in court.
“The young men who took Tyrell’s life through pure torture will never understand how they destroyed my life as well as all Tyrell’s relatives that dearly loved and adored him,” she wrote. “What was done to him was pure evil.”
Holmes, Dunkins, and Yzire Jenkins-Rowe had lived together, and Holmes had told others he feared Dunkins would kill him, investigators said. All three, along with Miles Harper, 26, of Allentown, and Zahmire Welcome, 26, of Whitehall, were members of a gang that called itself “Money Rules Everything.”
“Considering the calculated, callous, and evil acts committed by this defendant, this life sentence is wholly appropriate,” Attorney General Sunday said. “We hope it provides a measure of justice to Tyrell’s loved ones.”
Dunkins had a previous conviction for robbery, conspiracy, and assault after posing as a campus police officer and robbing drug dealers at gunpoint while playing football at Moravian College. That conviction resulted in a five- to 10-year prison term.
Jenkins-Rowe, now 28, pleaded guilty earlier this month to third-degree murder, conspiracy, and arson. He was sentenced to 27½ to 60 years. Harper has pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and is awaiting sentencing. Welcome’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Holmes was remembered by loved ones as a “vibrant” young man with a big heart. He was laid to rest following services at Second Baptist Church in Bethlehem, according to Jesse Johnson Funeral Home. His tribute wall is filled with candles, condolences, and prayers from friends and strangers alike.
Senior Deputy Attorneys General Christopher Phillips and Katherine McDermott prosecuted the case.
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