The death of Kenneka Jenkins took the internet by storm Monday after the 19-year-old was found dead in a freezer and police initially said it was because she was drunk and walked in there. While the circumstances of her death are being investigated, falsehoods soon started to spread. One of those lies was that Lania Sanders, a girl who attempted suicide on Facebook Live, was in the hotel room at t Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

The rumor started after someone posted a video of Sanders’ suicide attempt to YouTube. The title read, “Best friend of Kenneka Jenkins attempting suicide on camera.” According to blogs like The Black Loop, however, Sanders was not at the party Chicago Friday and was not friends with Jenkins, Monifah Shelton or Irene Roberts. In fact, Sanders wasn’t even in the same state. She was in Ohio, not Illinois.

Facebook users witnessed Sanders holding a knife to her throat. She said she wanted to kill herself. “Hey everyone! There is a young lady name Lania Sanders on live crying saying she wants to kill herself with a knife to her neck. Please this is serious. Contact her,” Facebook user Kimberly Barber-Dorris wrote.

Since the suicide attempt, Sanders’ Facebook page was apparently dismantled.

Further information about Sanders was not immediately known.

Police were investigating the death of Jenkins and watched the videos her friends posted to Facebook. Shelton and Roberts were not named as suspects.

“Yes, they’ve looked at it and continue to look at it and all the other social media videos and posts,” Rosemont Police spokesman Gary Mack told the Chicago Tribune about the Facebook Live video Monday. “They are leaving no stone unturned as far as trying to corral everyone they can and talk to them and interview them about what happened and what was going on that night.”

Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, suspected foul play in the death of her daughter. “I believe someone in this hotel killed my child,” Martin told WGN-TV. “(I'm) horrified. It's something that no one could ever imagine. It's unbelievable.”

Jenkins’ sister, Leonore Harris, added to the network: “The freezer door is heavy. So there's no way. If they're saying she's drunk, she don't have no strength. If she had enough strength to open that freezer door, she would have had enough strength to walk straight.”

She elaborated on a GoFundMe page she created to pay for Jenkins’ funeral. “This is a page set up for Kenneka Jenkins to help get justice for my baby girl,” she wrote. “As many of you may know, On Sunday morning, Neka was found dead in a walk in freezer at Crowne Point Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. We believe there is more to the story. Since this is still under investigation, there isn’t much I can say. The donations will cover funeral cost arrangements, also to help with the investigation. Anything helps. Help me get justice for her! God Bless.”

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

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