Ap opular Chicago activist who claims to have seen surveillance footage of Kenneka Jenkins hours before her death said Thursday that the young woman entered the hotel’s walk-in freezer alone and was not forced inside.
Andrew Holmes, who has worked in the community for decades fighting against violence, told the Chicago Tribunethat detectives in Rosemont allowed him to view the video on Wednesday when he went to seek answers on behalf of Jenkins’ family.
He said the video shows Jenkins, 19, waiting in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel after her friends apparently went up to the room in which they had been partying to retrieve some possessions. Jenkins then takes the elevator to a lower level and wanders around, opening doors in an apparently disoriented manner, he said.
Finally, he said, Jenkins opens two doors in a kitchen area and enters the walk-in freezer. The doors close behind her and Jenkins is seen no more, he said.
‘We all was wondering and wanted to know did anybody pull her down there?’ Holmes told reporters Thursday. ‘Did anybody force her down there? Was anybody on the other side in that room when she got down there? And the answer to that is ‘no.’