Life in prison for Rushmere murders

By Elizabeth Pattman

Staff writer

Kareem Mitchell will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Nancy and Kenneth Starnes in their Rushmere home in September 2017. 

Mitchell, one of three individuals allegedly involved in the double homicide, was the first to be arraigned on May 30 when his plea was entered and accepted by the judge. His charges, which included two counts of first degree murder, two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, one count of armed burglary, one count of grand larceny and one count of possession of a gun by a convicted felon, were read to him and he pled guilty to all seven. {mprestriction ids=”1,2,3,4,5,6″}

Mitchell’s guilty pleas were in exchange for the Commonwealth not seeking the death penalty, according to his attorney Jennifer Stanton. 

Mitchell was sentenced to life for each first-degree murder charge, three years for one count of use of a firearm to commit a felony and five years for the other count, as well as 20 years for the armed burglary charge, 20 years for the grand larceny charge and five years for the possession of a gun by a convicted felon charge. The sentence time for the armed burglary, grand larceny and possession of a gun charges were all suspended.

Mitchell will be moved to a penitentiary to serve his life term, while his co-defendants, Richard Alexander Holmes and Sharon Galvin, await their own arraignments. Holmes will appear in court on June 6 followed by Galvin on June 13.  {/mprestriction}