Family of woman who tragically died in hotel's walk-in freezer reaches settlement in lawsuit
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Rosemont Police Department
The family of a 19-year-old woman who died in a hotel's walk-in freezer have reached a settlement over her death.
Kenneka Jenkins, 19, had been attending a private party at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont in September 2017.
But days later on 10 September, she was found dead in a walk-in freezer at the hotel.
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The case generated controversy, with family and friends questioning whether there had been foul play. They also raised concerns around how the police handled the case.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that her death had been an accident, and her cause of death was given as hypothermia after being exposed to the cold.
A toxicology report also found that she had alcohol and medication for epilepsy and migraines in her system, which had been a factor in her death.
Though many questioned how someone could have frozen to death in a walk-in freezer that could be opened from the inside.
In 2018 Tereasa Martin, Jenkins' mother, filed a lawsuit against the parent company of the hotel, security firm and restaurant.
She claimed that staff had been negligent as they didn't secure the walk-in freezer, and didn't carry out a thorough search when Jenkins went missing.
The suit also added that staff had not checked CCTV footage which could have alerted them to Jenkins' whereabouts in the building, and sought $50 million in damages.
Jenkins' family have now now reached a settlement, attorneys acting for them have confirmed.
However, the exact amount agreed in the settlement has not been made public, and Ms Jenkins' mother has made it clear she wishes for the amount to be kept confidential.
Martin's attorneys wrote: "The widespread publicity of this case, including uncontrolled speculation and social media commentary, has resulted in various threats made against various individuals in the case.
"One of the main terms of the settlement for all parties was maintaining the confidentiality of the settlement."
Ms Martin has previously spoken about how the CCTV images could have helped staff to locate her daughter.
In an interview on Chicago radio station 107.5 WGCI in 2017, she claimed that one camera was pointed at the entrance to the walk-in.
She said: "There was a camera directly over this freezer.
"...At the closing of the meeting I asked the detective as well as the sergeant and the sergeant said aggressively 'There wasn't no camera' so I guess the camera disappeared too."