More Kenneka Jenkins Photos To Be Released By Rosemont Police: Lawyers

ROSEMONT, IL — Investigators plan to publicly release more photos and reports stemming from the death of Kenneka Jenkins, a 19-year-old Chicago woman who was found dead in a walk-in freezer at a Rosemont hotel, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Jenkins's death was ruled accidental, and the Cook County medical examiner determined the cause was hypothermia from cold exposure. But speculation still swirls around the circumstances of her death, with some believing foul play was involved despite Rosemont police categorizing its investigation as noncriminal.

The lawyers for Jenkins' mother, Tereasa Martin, and the rest of the family found out about the additional material during a meeting with police Thursday to update the case, the report stated. At the meeting, the department denied a request by lawyers and the family to see the entire case file on the incident. Police, though, told them they would publicly release more information Friday, the report added.

The photos, according to the attorneys, provide "more questions about what happened to [her] than they answer," Larry Rogers Jr. told the Sun-Times. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Arlington Heights news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

“The pictures are graphic and disturbing images and inexplicably show portions of [her] body exposed," he added.

Jenkins had gone to a party Sept. 8 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont, but friends lost track of her, and the family reported the teen missing the following day. After an 11-hour search, hotel staff found Jenkins' body inside a walk-in freezer early Sept. 10.

More Patch Coverage

Chicago Teen Found Dead In Hotel Freezer; Facebook Video Could Provide Clues: "I believe someone in this hotel killed my child," Kenneka Jenkins' mother said.

Autopsy For Chicago Teen Found In Hotel Freezer Inconclusive: Rosemont police plan to show hotel security camera video to the victim's mother.

Videos Released By Cops Don't Show Kenneka Jenkins Entering Freezer: A lawyer for the victim's family said they have not seen footage showing the teen walking into a hotel freezer alone.

FBI Not Needed For Investigation, Rosemont's Top Cop Says: Public Safety Chief Donald E. Stephens III said Monday his department will handle the case despite demands to call in the feds.

Kenneka Jenkins Laid To Rest At Funeral, But Questions Over Her Death Remain (VIDEO): Mourners said goodbye to the 19-year-old woman Saturday during a service on the Far South South Side.

Kenneka Jenkins Death Rule Accidental: Coroner: The 19-year-old woman died of hypothermia from cold exposure in a Rosemont hotel's walk-in freezer, the medical examiner's office ruled.

Investigators initially told the family that Jenkins was intoxicated when she let herself into the freezer and died inside. An autopsy originally was unable to determine the cause of death pending further study, and the medical examiner's office later determined that intoxication from alcohol and topiramate, an antiepilepsy medication, also were significant contributing factors in the teen's death, which the medical examiner's office ruled as accidental. The medical examiner's report stated Jenkins's blood-alcohol level was 0.112, but it's unclear how much alcohol she had consumed.

Security camera footage from the hotel shows Jenkins stumbling alone through the building's halls before wandering into the kitchen with the walk-in freezer. According to police and the hotel, no footage exists that captures Jenkins actually walking into the freezer.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Kenneka Jenkins (Photo via GoFundMe)

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