R&B Singer Lyfe Jennings Reveals Song Jeffrey Dahmer Asked Him to Sing While They Were in Prison

By Daniel S. Levine

R&B singer Lyfe Jennings spoke about his time in prison alongside the convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in a new Twitter video this week. Jennings, 44, said Dahmer asked him to sing Mint Condition's 1991 single "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)." Dahmer's horrific murders have come under the spotlight again thanks to another dramatic retelling of his story, Netflix's limited series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Jennings, who spent 10 years in prison after a 1992 conviction, said Dahmer was put in a cell right next to his. Jennings was a porter in the prison, meaning he was allowed to leave his cell to clean and he would often sing while doing his chores. He also took requests from the other cellmates, including Dahmer.

"One particular day, I walked past the thing... you know, Jeffrey, he was like, 'Aye, hey, hey, hey,' he was like, 'Yo, that's you down there singing?' I'm like, 'Yo, it was me down there signing, you see me down there, man,'" Jennings recalled, notes Entertainment Tonight. "So, he was like, 'I like R&B.' I'm like, 'You like R&B? He's like, Yeah, yeah,'"

After he returned to his cell, he yelled through the door and asked Dahmer what song he would like to hear. "Y'all will never guess what song he asked me did I know," Jennings said with a laugh. "Mint Condition's 'Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes),' man. He asked did I know that record, and I sang the record, he beatin' on the door and all this stuff. I mean, I ain't saying the homie is a celebrity or nothin', I'm just telling you my experience, man."

Dahmer murdered and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. He was convicted on 16 counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to 15 terms of life imprisonment in February 1992. He was also sentenced to a 16th term of life imprisonment for a 1978 Ohio murder. Dahmer served his time at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. In November 1994, he was beaten to death by another inmate. He was 34.

The murderer's story has been the subject of countless documentaries, films, and TV shows. Last month, Netflix released another one, Dahmer – Monster, which stars Evan Peters as the serial killer. Although the actors received praise for their performances, the show has earned criticism for exploiting the grisly details of the murders. Families of Dahmer's victims have called out the show for reviving their trauma. Netflix was also criticized for originally listing it among its LGBTQ+ titles.

Rita Isbell, whose brother Errol Lindsey was murdered by Dahmer, wrote in an Insider essay that it was difficult to see her victim impact statement recreated verbatim by DaShawn Barnes. She also said Netflix never contacted her about the show during production. The show "bothered me, especially when I saw myself – when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said," Isbell wrote. "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That's why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then." 

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