Family of Kenneka Jenkins, found frozen in a hotel freezer in 2017, to receive $6.4 million settlement
The family of a Chicago woman whose frozen body was discovered inside a Rosemont hotel’s walk-in freezer will receive more than $6 million in a settlement made public Tuesday, court records show.
Kenneka Jenkins, 19, was found dead in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in September 2017 after she had been missing for nearly a day. A lawsuit against the hotel, the hotel’s security contractor and a restaurant that was allegedly leasing the space originally sought more than $50 million in damages.
The parties first reached a settlement in October, though the terms were sealed until Tuesday.
After accounting payment of attorney fees and funeral expenses, the settlement dictates that Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, half-sister Leonore Harris and brother Kenneth Lee Jenkins will receive about $6.4 million total. Just over half will go to Martin, while Harris will receive $1.5 million and Kenneth Jenkins will receive $1.2 million, according to the settlement.
The lawsuit, filed in 2018, argued that the Crowne Plaza Chicago, Capital Security and Investigations and Murray Bros. Caddyshack Restaurant were negligent, failing to secure the freezer where she was found or conduct a thorough search for Jenkins when she went missing.
It took authorities almost a day to locate Jenkins’ body after she disappeared in the early morning of Sept. 9, 2017. Her death sparked protests, vigorous online discussions and conspiracy theories.
Jenkins is visible in security footage stumbling through the hotel’s hallways until she ended up in the kitchen, rounding the corner where the freezer was kept.
The Cook County medical examiner ruled that Jenkins died of hypothermia, though alcohol and a drug used to treat epilepsy and migraines were “significant contributing factors.”
A Cook County judge has dismissed the case, court records show.
An attorney for the hotel, security contractor and restaurant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
