Activist: 19-year-old went into Rosemont hotel freezer alone
A Chicago community activist says he watched surveillance video of Kenneka Jenkins and saw her open the door to the Rosemont hotel freezer where her body was found.
"Did anyone pull her down there or force her down there or was anybody in that room when she got down there? The answer to that is no," Andrew Holmes said Thursday. He called the 19-year-old's death at the Crown Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont "an accident that should never have happened."
Holmes said he also saw the basement freezer with his own eyes, which he said is in an area where the only options are to turn around or go into the freezer. She chose the freezer door, he said.
Jenkins's body was found at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, about 20 hours after Jenkins' friends phoned her mother to say they couldn't find the girl after they all attended a party on the hotel's ninth floor.
Jenkins' family has said police told them Jenkins appeared intoxicated on the videos. Holmes said the freezer had a device that would allow someone inside to escape. He could not say whether the freezer was on at the time.
Some have questioned on social media whether someone else was responsible for Jenkins' death and have pressed for quicker answers from police. Protesters marched outside the hotel Thursday for the second evening in a row.
But Holmes said there was no one with Jenkins on the videos.
"I can't say that she didn't die of foul play because the toxicology report has not come out," Holmes said.
Rosemont police did not comment on claims by Holmes, who said he got involved to help Jenkins' family.
Rosemont police said Thursday they have released the videos to Jenkins' mother, Tereasa Martin, as well as inviting her to view or discuss the videos with investigators.
"I called the mother and let her know I have seen this video," Holmes said. "And she's going to be looking at the video too. ... The main thing is letting the mother see the last steps of her daughter from A to Z without anything being altered."
Holmes was recognized by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2014 for his community work.
The hotel on Thursday offered to pay for funeral services for Jenkins, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"Our hearts go out to the Kenneka's mother, her family and friends. We hope covering the funeral costs provides a small bit of relief for them," hotel spokesman Glenn Harston told the Sun-Times.
The Cook County medical examiner's office also sought access to the videos, police said. The autopsy report has not been released.
"This investigation is still ongoing and at the top of our priority," police said in a statement, adding they are continuing to locate and interview people who were at the party.
Holmes said the video from surveillance cameras showed Jenkins take the elevator alone from the lobby to the basement.
"I watched the video from the time she was in the lobby to the time she got off the elevator. There was no one with her," he said.
Once downstairs, "she was checking the doors, she was checking other doors, she was trying to find her way back upstairs." She opened a steel door door leading into the freezer, he said. "The only way out is, you've got to come out the way you come in."