New Details Punch More Holes In Speculations About Kenneka Jenkins' Death

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 16, 2017 6:55PM

A torrent of speculation arose on social media in the wake of the death of Kenneka Jenkins, the 19-year-old woman who was found dead in a freezer at a hotel in Rosemont last month. But a week after Jenkins' death was ruled an accident by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, newly released details throw further cold water on the conspiracy theories that ran rampant in September.

According to the Tribune, police reports show that authorities followed up on those speculations, tracking down people who were speculated to have committed foul play, plus others who knew Jenkins or attended the party at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

For instance, cops received an anonymous claim that Jenkins' friends were in a so-called "blood gang" and sold her out for $200. But Jenkins was actually voicing her concern about potentially having to pay a $200 fine for parking illegally, if they didn't have clearance to use the hotel lot, a friend told police, according to the report.

One focal point of the conspiracy theory that claimed Jenkins was raped or murdered or both swirled around what some commenters heard as someone saying "help me" in a viral video that circulated in the wake of Jenkins' death. The origin of the line? The sound came from the Chief Keef song that plays in the background of the clip, the friend said.

Friends of Jenkins were also the target of death threats, and one person who went to the hotel party the night of the accident reportedly moved from the city to a suburb due to harassment, the report states.

Police reports also show that Jenkins' mother, Teresa Martin, declined to allow authorities to analyze Jenkins' cellphone on at least two occasions; and several who were in Jenkins' company the night she died told police that she was drinking but took no drugs. That dovetailed with the findings of the medical examiner's office, who said Jenkins' blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.112, "which is higher than the 0.08 BAC commonly used to determine if an individual is too drunk to drive." Surveillance video from the hotel released on Sept. 15 showed Jenkins stumbling into walls, a staircase and through a kitchen area.

Jenkins left her Near West Side home on Friday, Sept. 8 at around 11:30 p.m. to attend the hotel party. Jenkins' sister said the last contact she had with Kenneka was at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, via text message. Friends then called Martin at around 4 a.m. and told her they had lost track of Jenkins. Martin contacted hotel staff and police shortly thereafter. Jenkins' body was found early on Sunday, at around 1 a.m.

Jenkins had a small cut on her right ankle and a bruise on her right leg, but there was no other evidence of internal or external trauma, the medical examiner's office said. Jenkins death was ruled an accident by hypothermia "due to cold exposure in a walk-in freezer."

You can read the Tribune's story here.