Double Murder Suspect Jamaal Jenkins Arrested in Louisiana

Double murder suspect Jamaal Jenkins was arrested Friday afternoon by U.S. Marshals in Louisiana, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has announced.

Jenkins, 25, was wanted on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Destynee Burkes, who was shot and killed on Jan. 7, and Tieyannie Hollis, who was shot Jan. 14 in St. Petersburg and died days later. 

The sheriff's office had for information leading to his arrest. The three were apparently involved in a deadly love triangle, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. 

Jenkins was arrested in a home in Metairie, Louisiana, which is just outside New Orleans, around 3:30 p.m. Friday.

According to the sheriff's office, during the course of the investigation, members of the U.S. Marshal Service Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force which includes Pinellas Sheriff's deputies and St. Petersburg Police Department Officers, were able to generate information as to the whereabouts of Jenkins.

Members of the local Task Force reached out to their counterparts of the Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Task Force, who arrested Jenkins in a home at 4217 Hessner Street, Unit 116 in Metairie, Louisiana.

Deputies and Officers will be traveling to Metairie to continue the investigation, the sheriff's office said.

The Backstory

Jenkins and Burkes, of Gulfport, were involved in an on-and-off relationship for more than a year prior to Burkes' death.

From January to July 2012, Jenkins was in the county jail on various theft and drug charges. During that time, Gualtieri said, the 24-year-old Burkes began a relationship with Hollis.

On Dec. 26, 2012 in a quarrel about the relationship, authorities said Jenkins rammed his car into Burkes' in Pinellas Park, pushing her car into an intersection.

After the incident, a warrant for Jenkins' arrest on charges of aggravated battery were filed. 

According to Gualtieri, Jenkins shot and killed Burkes on Jan. 7 at the La Quinta Motel because she was the only witness to the crime — a crime that would have put him in state prison a long time, he said.

From there, Gualtieri said Jenkins stole Burkes' silver Chrysler 200, drove to Orlando and switched the tags on the car with a similar vehicle. 

After her death, on Jan. 7, Jenkins and Hollis, 31, were involved in an altercation at an unidentified St. Petersburg Park on Jan. 13.

A day later, Hollis was found shot multiple times at the Mariners Pointe Apartments. 

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