Woman pleads guilty in dismemberment death

By Cindy Landrum  

MARCH 29, 2012 11:29 a.m. (0)

Carman Major Jenkins was an honor student, the drum major for her high school band and somebody who was trusted with the keys to Buncombe Street United Methodist Church.

On Tuesday, the 24-year-old woman became a convicted murderer after she pleaded guilty for her part in the 2008 death of Mekole Harris, whose severed feet and hands were left at two residences in the Cleveland Street area.

Her defense attorney and a psychologist blamed the change on her husband, Clarence Jenkins, a man they said was violent, controlled her every move and isolated her from her family.

She was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Ned Miller said that her cooperation with authorities and her testimony in Clarence Jenkins’ trial which is scheduled for April 9 could lead to a reduced sentence.

Both husband and wife had faced the death penalty, but Carman Jenkins was spared after she led authorities to Harris’ remains.

During the guilty plea, her attorney said that the death penalty has also been dropped against Clarence Jenkins. Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins declined to comment on that, citing a gag order Miller had previously placed on the case.

Harris’ sister, Lisa Perry, told the judge the family wanted Jenkins to be sentenced to life in prison. She said her mother, Jessie Harris, died in 2010 of a massive stroke.

“She grieved herself to death,” she said. Her sister was a loving person who treated everyone as if they were friends, including the Jenkins, she said.

Wilkins said the Jenkins’ killed and dismembered Harris to send a message to another woman, a former roommate who had a relationship with them. Authorities said the couple claimed the woman owed them $10,000.

Wilkins said Harris was kidnapped from Labor Finders, a staffing agency on Rutherford Road.

She was killed on April 6 and her feet and hands were left at two residences with a note that said, “Grace, this is your last warning. This is what happens when somebody doesn’t follow our instructions,” Wilkins said.

Copies of the threatening notes were found in the Jenkins’ residence and DNA tests confirmed Harris’ blood was found in the house and in the couple’s van, Wilkins said.

Forensic psychologist Dr. David Price told the judge Carman Jenkins suffered from “Stockholm Syndrome,” a condition where a person empathizes with the person who is controlling him or her and helps the controller’s causes.

He compared Carman Jenkins to Patty Hearst, the daughter of a media mogul who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, the American militant group that held her captive.

“This woman could not think for herself,” Price said of Carman Jenkins.

Beverly Major, Carman Jenkins’ mother, said her daughter was a good person who went on mission trips to work on people’s homes in South Carolina and the Bahamas. While on a mission trip to the Bahamas, her daughter taught children how to play basketball and to read, she said.

“I love her and I’m here for her,” her mother said.

David Stubbs, director of education and programs at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, said Jenkins played basketball for the church because her church didn’t have a team for her age group.

He said she helped keep the gym open on Saturdays and eventually had a key to every part of the church. She babysat the children of church members and went on youth mission trips.

She had plans to go to college, earn a business degree and open her own restaurant, said Stubbs, who said he had lost touch with her after she was forced to quit Spartanburg Methodist College when her mother became ill and she met her husband.

“This is not Carman. This is not the girl I knew,” Stubbs said.