A Hill District man who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a 2016 shooting death has been sentenced to 7½ to 17½ years in prison plus two years probation.

Jenkins Everett, 28, is already serving a 20-month federal prison sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Allegheny Common Pleas Court Judge Alexander Bicket ordered Monday that his sentences run consecutively.

In March, Everett admitted to killing Eric Bivins, 29, on June 11, 2016, in a Bedford Dwellings apartment. Everett also pleaded guilty to abuse of corpse, tampering with evidence, criminal conspiracy and two firearms violations. 

After shooting Mr. Bivins, Everett and two other men drove his body to a wooded area in the Hill District and left it there, according to a criminal complaint. Mr. Bivins’ mother reported him missing three days later. After reviewing surveillance footage from the apartment complex, police located the two men who had assisted Everett, one of whom led police to the body. The two men were not charged, according to the complaint.

Everett was arrested by a fugitive task force about four months later.

In March, defense attorney Richard Narvin told Judge Bicket that Everett had acted in self-defense, and that a witness was prepared to testify that Mr. Bivins planned to rob Everett. But police said the witnesses who assisted them recalled that Mr. Bivins was sitting on the couch when he was shot and that, while he had a gun on his person, he was not holding it. The witnesses told police they weren’t sure why Everett had shot him.

Everett has two prior felony drug convictions.

Annie Rosenthal: arosenthal@post-gazette.com or on Twitter @AnnieRosenthal8.

First Published: June 4, 2018, 8:10 p.m.