Activist Says Hotel Tapes Show Kenneka Jenkins Walking Into Freezer

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 14, 2017 11:30PM

Kenneka Jenkins / Facebook

A highly prominent Chicago activist has reportedly said that hotel surveillance video shows Kenneka Jenkins walk into a freezer alone before she was found dead inside, several hours later.

Holmes—a longtime activist who has spoken out on behalf of victims of violence—said police showed him video after he went to authorities looking for answers. "It was just an accident waiting to happen," he said, according to the Tribune.

"Did anybody force her down there? Was anybody on the other side in that room when she got down there? And the answer to that is 'no,'" Holmes also said, according to the Sun-Times.

Footage shows Jenkins take an elevator down to a sub-level from the lobby, then open a couple of doors in a kitchen area, then walk into the freezer, which closes behind her, Holmes told the Tribune.

NBC reports that Rosemont police as of early Thursday evening have not confirmed that Holmes has seen the videos.

Authorities said on Wednesday that hotel surveillance video would be shared with Jenkins' mother, Teresa Martin, by Thursday afternoon. A spokesperson said on Thursday that the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel has also offered family to privately go over some 36 hours of surveillance video, according to the Sun-Times.

Holmes' claim follows in the wake of a torrent of social-media speculation about Jenkins' death. A viral video, viewed millions of times on Facebook and investigated by Rosemont police, showed figures reflected in the glasses of a woman who appeared to be inside a hotel room. Some on social media claimed to hear spoken references to rape and murder on the clip, but the voices referenced are highly inaudible. Several dozen protesters showed up outside the hotel on Wednesday, with demonstrators saying they feared foul play.

"There are literally dozens of conspiracy theories that have been offered and countless people who are attempting to play detective and solve the case as to what happened over there," Rosemont spokesman Garry Mack told the New York Times on Wednesday.

Jenkins left her home on Friday night at around 11:30 p.m. on the Near West Side, Rosemont police said. Jenkins' sister said the last contact she had with Kenneka was at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Friends called Martin at around 4 a.m. and told her they had lost track of Jenkins and left the hotel; and Martin contacted hotel staff and police shortly thereafter. Jenkins' body was found early on Sunday, at around 1 a.m.

Martin said police told her that her daughter was seen on hotel video staggering and intoxicated near the front desk. Martin expressed doubt earlier in the week that Jenkins would have been able to get inside the freezer on her own.

An autopsy was performed on Sunday, but the cause and manner of death has yet not determined, according to the Tribune.