New Kenneka Jenkins Video Shows Teen Wasn't Forced Into Freezer, Says Activist

Kenneka Jenkins, the Chicago teen who was found dead in a hotel freezer Sunday, was not forced into the walk-in freezer of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center, in Rosemont, Illinois, an activist claimed Thursday.

According to community activist Andrew Holmes, he watched one of the surveillance footage from the hotel that is being investigated by the police to find what really happened to the 19-year-old.

Holmes told Chicago Tribune that Rosemont detectives showed him the video Wednesday. In the video, Jenkins was seen waiting in the lobby of the hotel, he said. She was alone at the moment and her friends could not be seen nearby. She later took the elevator to a lower level and wandered around, Holmes said, adding that she was seen opening doors in an apparently disoriented manner.

Finally, Jenkins opened two doors in a kitchen area and entered the walk-in freezer.

Holmes said he did not think there was any foul play involved in the incident and that no one else forced Jenkins into the area where she died. However, he said details about the incident would be clear once the toxicology reports are out.

"The important part is we all wanted to know: Did anybody call her down there?" he said. "Did anybody force her down there? Was there anybody on the other side of the room when she got down there? And the answer to that is no."

Since Jenkins was found dead early Sunday, online users have been speculating about what caused the teenager's death. Many social media users suggested she was set up by her friends to be raped and killed for money.

On Thursday, Rosemont Police Spokesman Joe Balogh told the Tribune the department had released the surveillance video to Jenkins' family and to the Cook County Medical Examiner. The teen's cause of death is yet to be ascertained.

Jenkins' mother Tereasa Martin told a Tribune reporter she had not seen the video but was planning to review it with her attorney Larry Rogers. Martin had also openly criticized police and said someone at the hotel killed her daughter. “They think that she walked into a cooler, intoxicated, barely able to hold herself up,” she said about authorities. “I believe it was foul play involved.”

She also urged the people present at the hotel at the time of her daughter's death to speak up. “Please, please, please, I beg you, let me know something,” she said. “Help me.”

Rosemont Police had said Wednesday that videos from 47 surveillance cameras at the hotel as well as the videos posted on social media were being reviewed. More than 12 people, who were present at the hotel on the night Jenkins was found dead, have been interviewed.

Jenkins' death has taken the internet by storm and the social media users are still waiting to get information about the cause of her death. Earlier this week, a video was shared on social media, allegedly recorded by Jenkins' friend Irene Roberts and posted to another friend Monifah Shelton’s Facebook page, in which the teen could apparently be heard saying, “Help me,” in the background.