Attorneys: Rosemont PD To Release More Files In Kenneka Jenkins Case
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Attorneys representing Kenneka Jenkins' family said police will release additional photos and documents to the public on Friday from the investigation into the 19-year-old Chicago woman's controversial death inside a Rosemont hotel freezer last month.
Jenkins' mother, Tereasa Martin, and sister, Leonore Harris, met with investigators at the Rosemont Police Department for an update Thursday, and police denied their requests to review the full case file, according to a statement from the attorneys.
Instead, police told them the reports, photos and videos would be released publicly on Friday, "with the exception of a few select photographs they wished to share with the family before they were released," attorneys said, describing them as being "of a personal, private and indecent nature."
"Frankly, [the] photos depicting how [Jenkins] was found raise more questions about what happened to [her] than they answer," attorney Larry Rogers Jr. said in the statement. "The pictures are graphic and disturbing images and inexplicably show portions of [her] body exposed."
Rosemont police could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night, and the attorneys could not be reached for follow-up questions.
According to the attorneys, the photos show Jenkins' body as it was found Sept. 10 in an unused walk-in freezer at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. She had last been seen attending a party in a hotel room nearly 20 hours earlier.
Jenkins' death was ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy found she died of hypothermia with alcohol and topiramate intoxication — a prescription drug used to treat epilepsy and migraines — listed as contributing factors.
Still, conspiracy theories about a possible cover-up in the investigation have circulated on social media since her death. Police have maintained that no foul play is suspected.
