Who was Kenneka Jenkins?
Kenneka Jenkins was born in Illinois, on May 27, 1998. At the time of her death, she was only 19 years old. She was a very responsible, smart, and bright young woman.
Jenkins had a great relationship bond with her mother, Tereasa Martin. In fact, Jenkins was her mother’s caregiver when her mother underwent surgery for breast cancer in 2017.
Unfortunately, Jenkins is mostly known for being found deceased inside a walk-in freezer at a hotel in Illinois.
The Case has Now Been Settled
After the disturbing death that Jenkins endured, something that possibly could have been avoided, a settlement agreement between the hotel and her family has finally happened. After the lawsuit that Martin filed against the Rosemont hotel. Which in fact, she sued, the hotel, the hotel’s restaurant and even the security company.
She filed a $50 million lawsuit against all of these different factors for letting her daughter die of hypothermia. She also complaint about negligence on their part, stating that they failed to adequately secure the freezer and conduct a proper search when Jenkins was first reported missing. The settlement was first reached in August.
However, this information has not been entered in court records due to Martin’s request for confidentiality. Despite her plea, on October 3, Judge Thomas Cushing denied the request but encouraged her and her legal team to resubmit the petition. Subsequently, there is a hearing scheduled for October 16, to argue about their point in court, to keep the settlement details sealed.
She did not want for her daughter’s case to catch the eye of public once again. This was due to how uncontrolled and cruel opinions the public was having. Overall, a huge reason was because this case became very quickly controversial. For these reasons, Martin and the rest of Jenkins family, didn’t want to publicize the settlement.
About Kenneka Jenkins’ Case
On Sep. 8, 2017, Jenkins told her mom that she was going out with some friends. Then they were going to go watch a movie. Apparently, they were going out to celebrate that she got a job in a nursing home. Later that same day at around 11 p.m. Jenkins borrowed her mother’s car to go meet her friends. Sadly, that was the last time that her mother saw her daughter alive.
Coincidently, was the same year that her mother was going through a really hard and tough journey trying to beat her breast cancer.
Unfortunately, Jenkins plans changed or she already had other plans in mind. Instead, she and her friends went to a party on the ninth floor of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. After this, everything went downhill. It got to the point to where her family thought there was foul play involved. Which it was later determined that there was not after the surveillance footage caught every move of hers around the hotel and was retrieved for evidence and proof.
What Factors Influenced In Her Death
Furthermore, she seemed very intoxicated and under the influence of alcohol, according to the surveillance camera footage. It also shows how she was stumbling across the hotel halls, after she had left the room of 30 people in the room where the party took place. After her body was found, which was at around 1:00 a.m. on Sep. 10, 2017, she had an autopsy done.
Experts and many medical examiners performed on her a toxicology report, which stated that her blood alcohol level was of 0.112, which made her legally drunk. Besides the alcohol, they found that she had a prescription drug in her system. Medication that her mother said was not prescribed to her.
That drug was topiramate, which is used for epilepsy or to help prevent migraines. Her death was officially ruled an accident. However, experts stated that these influences could have most definitely also contributed with her death. In addition to the hypothermia caused by prolonged exposures to very cold temperatures she endured in the freezer.
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
FOX32 Chicago: Settlement reached in lawsuit over Kenneka Jenkin’s hotel freezer death
ABC 7: Settlement reached after Kenneka Jenkins found dead in Rosemont hotel’s walk-in freezer in 2017
CBS News: Settlement reached in death of Kenneka Jenkins, found in Chicago area hotel freezer in 2017
AP News: A Chicago woman dies in a hotel freezer in 2017. Now her mother has reached a settlement
Bossip: Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Filed By Mother Of Kenneka Jenkins, Mourning Mom Wants Details Sealed Due To Despicable Online Trolls
Featured Image Courtesy of Elliott Brown Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Inventorchris Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
