Suspected Girlfriend Killer Heads To Court On Drug Charges

SANTA ANA, CA — A 46-year-old Anaheim man accused of killing his live-in girlfriend was due in court Friday on an unrelated drug case, court records show.

Mark Lawrence Jennings, suspected of killing 40 year-old Beverly Millard Wednesday of this week, had a case pending against him from June 5 charging him with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell, sale or transport of a controlled substance, and possession for sale of controlled substances. Those charges are all felonies, according to court records. He was also charged with misdemeanor receiving stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jennings pleaded not guilty to those charges June 7.

The suspect called police about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to say his girlfriend was hurt and he thought he killed her, said Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

When officers arrived at 895 S. Cardiff Street, they found the suspect and he told them he had opened a gas line inside and that his girlfriend was probably dead, said Wyatt, but there was no evidence a gas line had been turned on. Officers found the victim's body in a bedroom, and the suspect was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of murder.

The cause of Millard's death has not been released as of this report.

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