7-year-old tried to save sisters in Streamwood killings, authorities say
A 7-year-old boy tried to perform CPR on his two older sisters in a desperate attempt to save their lives after authorities say their older brother fatally stabbed them May 28 in the family’s Streamwood townhouse.
Cook County prosecutors shared details of the stabbings during a detention hearing Friday for Jalonie Jenkins, 25, who is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his sisters: 21-year-old Janiya Jenkins, a nursing student, and 10-year-old Eyani Jones, who attended Parkwood Elementary School in Hanover Park.
A Cook County judge ordered Jenkins into custody after a hearing Friday at the Rolling Meadows courthouse. He is next due in court June 26.
Janiya Jenkins’ 3-year-old daughter and Janiya and Eyani’s 7-year-old brother were at the home at the time of the killings but were not injured.
According to prosecutors, the youngest children were outside about 6:40 p.m. May 28, and Jenkins and his sisters were inside on the second floor. Eyani Jones was on a Snapchat call with an out-of-state friend. According to prosecutors, the friend heard screams and the attack on Janiya.
The friend also heard a toddler, whom prosecutors believe was Janiya’s daughter, asking her mom why she was on the floor. The friend then heard Janiya Jenkins “begging the defendant to not kill the kids” at the same time Eyani Jones screamed for her friend to call 911 before the call was cut off, prosecutors said.
The friend called her mother, who lives next door, to check on Eyani.
Prosecutors say the 7-year-old entered the home, climbed the stairs and saw Janiya lying on the ground, covered in blood and sobbing. She told him to grab her daughter and leave. The defendant called the boy a “disparaging name” and brought him to a first floor bathroom, according to prosecutors.
A short time later, the defendant, holding a knife with what appeared to be blood, returned to the bathroom with the 3-year-old, prosecutors said. He left both children there. The boy reported hearing loud thumps and his 10-year-old sister yelling for someone to call 911, prosecutors said.
A doorbell video camera captured Jalonie Jenkins exiting the house with the family dog and multiple bags, which he loaded into his vehicle before driving away, authorities said.
The 7-year-old discovered Janiya Jenkins on the second floor landing and Eyani Jones on the floor of a bedroom. Both were covered with blood, authorities said. The boy attempted CPR before taking the toddler to the home of a neighbor, who called police and the sisters’ mother.
Streamwood police officers recovered a bloody kitchen knife hidden on the main floor between the dryer and the wall.
According to the medical examiner, Eyani Jones suffered 10 stab wounds to her neck, chest and hands. Janiya Jenkins suffered at least 12 stab wounds.
Police tracked the defendant through license plate reader cameras as he traveled to Itasca and Bensenville. He ended up in Bensenville’s Redmond Park where authorities say he approached two people about 9:15 p.m. and asked if they wanted to buy his car.
Authorities say Jensen subsequently contacted his girlfriend and admitted fighting with his sisters.
Police recovered his vehicle in Bensenville. During their search of the car, officers spotted blood on the driver’s side interior. They also found bloody clothing in a wooded area of the park, prosecutors said.
Streamwood officers, with assistance from the Major Case Assistance Team and the U.S. Marshals, arrested Jenkins Sunday near a Downers Grove Metra station.