Patrick Sullivan, his wife Deborah, and the couple’s daughter, Wendy, were all found stabbed to death by their other daughter, Nakeeah. All three had multiple stab wounds and Nakeeah says they were tortured and murdered by Lorenzo Jenkins who had befriended the family.
A Nashville judge is weighing a request to allow a private attorney to handle the death penalty case against Lorenzo Jenkins.
The request from the public defender’s office comes as the state is pushing to begin executing condemned inmates again.
Assistant Public Defender Mike Engle told Criminal Court Judge Randall Wyatt Jr. last week that the Nashville public defender’s office lacks the resources to take on another death penalty case, which on average takes 2,000 hours of preparation.
Lorenzo Jenkins waited until Nakeeah had left for the day, then attacked the family with other accomplices who have yet to be identified. He had been trying to steal Deborah’s prescription pills, which she had for chronic pain due to numerous surgeries.