Bernie man pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter

A Bernie, Missouri, man Tuesday, April 18, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for the 2021 shooting death of another man.

Anthony T. Jenkins Sr. entered a guilty plea to charges through Stoddard County of felony voluntary manslaughter and felony tampering with physical evidence during a felony case Tuesday on a change of venue at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse, according to a news release from Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Sawyer Smith. Circuit Judge Scott Lipke pronounced sentencing.

Following the prosecution's recommended sentence for voluntary manslaughter, Lipke imposed against the defendant a maximum sentence of 15 years to serve in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Following the prosecution's recommended sentence for tampering with physical evidence, Lipke imposed against the defendant a maximum sentence of four years to serve in the Department of Corrections and assessed a fine payment to the Stoddard County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund. Both sentences are to be run concurrently with each other.

"With announcing this just result, I thank and commend the law enforcement officers who worked on the case and obtained strong evidence," Smith said. "I greatly appreciate the investigative work of the Bernie Police Department, Dexter Police Department, Stoddard County Sheriff's Department and Stoddard County Major Case Squad."

With his plea, Jenkins admitted he knowingly caused the death of a confidential victim by shooting him with a Glock .22 firearm in the chest after sudden passion arising from adequate cause, the news release said.

The defendant pleaded his guilt to the tampering offense in that he presented testimony and physical evidence that his chest was scratched by another with the purpose to mislead a public servant who was engaged in an official investigation for the crime of voluntary manslaughter.

This case originated in Bernie in Stoddard County on or about Feb. 21, 2021, when the defendant killed a man at defendant's residence as the result of adequate provocation, the news release said.