By BRIANNA
ROBLES
Staff Writer
Kenneka Jenkins, a name that hasn’t been too popular in news but has caused a frenzy on just about every social media outlets. For those unfamiliar with the story, to give a brief synopsis, on Sept. 8 Jenkins went with her two friends, Monifa Shelton and Irene Roberts to a hotel party at The Crowne Plaza O’hare Rosemont Hotel in Illinois. That night, her friends had realized that she had been missing. They decided to leave the hotel with Jenkins’s phone and in her car. They however, did call her mother to alert her that she was missing. Her mother urged the hotel to search for her in the hotel, but they refused because there was not an adequate missing person report. Approximately 21 hours after Jenkins was reported missing, with the help of video cameras, her body was found in the freezer of the hotel.
When I first heard of the incident, there were a couple of things that didn’t sit right with me. I questioned why I only heard about the incident on social media, where her friends were during this time, and how come the facts about the story kept switching.
The story had first emerged on Facebook with her friends posting about how she was missing hoping someone would be able to locate Jenkins. The story received millions of shares and eventually it was all down my timeline. I however have yet to see the story aired on any news outlet. Is it because she is just another black girl missing? Probably. Being that Kenneka is from the low income city of Chicago and she is a black female, news outlets expect nothing different to happen. Its stereotypical especially being that she was supposedly drunk at a party. I find it absolutely disgusting that her story isn’t being heard, besides on social media because of her race and socio-economic background. A life is still a life and therefore this story should be publicized not only because it’ll help bring awareness to her, but it’ll help other parents who have teenagers be more careful.
I was always taught that whenever I went out, that who I left with, is who I am supposed to come back with; it was a girl code. One of the main reasons why people were confused about her death was because her friends were supposed to be with her the whole time. I am in no way blaming Jenkin’s friends for her death, but as a friend I personally believe that it is your responsibility to make sure everyone returns to their destination safely. It is suspicious however that, while knowing she was missing, her two friends still had the audacity to get in her car and leave the hotel without her. This whole situation should have everyone checking their circle making sure that if they do decide to make these types of decisions that they have friends that’ll pick up for the slack.
The video of Kenneka supposedly stumbling into the freezer where she was found dead, as well as pictures of her body surfaced the internet which led to more questions. The video shows her stumbling in a hallway due to her obvious intoxication. Her pictures then show her laid out in a freezer with her clothes out of place. The question of how no one saw her wander off came about into a hallway by herself. Then people often questioned how she managed to open a freezer door while intoxicated when she could barely even stand without holding the wall. Although the police ruled this as an accident and not a homicide, I believe there are just important details to the story that they are either completely ignoring or haven’t identified yet. Police are somehow able to find out about any other case but can’t seem to piece together evidence as to how young black female died.
This whole case in more ways than one is quite strange and every piece doesn’t seem to fit correctly. I do know however, that this case touched many young teenagers and adults including myself because it could happen to anyone.
