Streamwood man charged with sisters’ killings pleads not guilty

A Streamwood man accused of fatally stabbing his two younger sisters in the family home on May 28 pleaded not guilty to murder charges Thursday.

The attorney for 25-year-old Jalonie Jenkins also asked for his client to receive a behavioral clinical exam to determine his sanity at the time of the killings and his mental fitness to stand trial.

Jenkins is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his sisters: Janiya Jenkins, a 21-year-old nursing student who suffered at least a dozen stab wounds; and 10-year-old Eyani Jones, a student at Parkwood Elementary School in Hanover Park, who suffered 10 stab wounds.

The sisters' 7-year-old brother and Janiya Jenkins’ 3-year-old daughter also were home at the time of the killings but were not injured. According to prosecutors, the 7-year-old unsuccessfully attempted CPR on his two older sisters.

Prosecutors said Eyani was on a Snapchat call with an out-of-state friend who heard screaming from the attack. The friend also heard Janiya “begging the defendant to not kill the kids” and heard Eyani screaming for the friend to call 911 before the call ended, according to prosecutors.

The defendant placed the two younger children in a first-floor bathroom after the attack then left the home in his vehicle with the family dog, prosecutors said. The 7-year-old boy later took the toddler to the home of a neighbor, who called police and the sisters’ mother, authorities said.

Jalonie Jenkins was captured four days later near a Metra station in Downers Grove and remains in custody at the Cook County jail. He is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing Aug. 6, at the Third District Municipal Courthouse in Rolling Meadows.