(AmericanProsperity.com) – According to court records that were made public on December 12, the family of the Chicago woman who was frozen to death after being locked in a hotel freezer has reached an agreement of $10 million legal settlement. The mother of Kenneka Jenkins, Teresa Martin, will now receive nearly $3.7 million. Other family members will get $1.5 million and $1.2 million, while another $3.5 million will cover legal fees and $6,000 will pay Jenkins’ funeral.
The 19-year-old woman was found dead in Crown Plaza Hotel’s walk-in freezer in 2017, less than 24 hours after she attended a party at the establishment, which is located in suburban Rosemont. After investigating the case, the office of the Cook County medical examiner revealed that Jenkins’ death was accidental. It also determined that the 19-year-old woman died of hypothermia and noted that the use of a drug for treating migraines and epilepsy, along with alcohol intoxication, were some “significant contributing factors” in Jenkins’ death.
According to different reports, some surveillance videos watched by police authorities showed the 19-year-old woman wandering alone through the kitchen area near the freezer on the day she disappeared. She appeared on these videos at 3: 30 am.
In December 2018, Jenkins’ mother filed a lawsuit where she alleged that the hotel restaurant that rented the freezer, along with a security company and even Crown Plaza Hotel were negligent because they didn’t secure the walk-in-freezer. Martin also alleged that none of these conducted the proper search after her daughter disappeared. Her lawsuit was initially demanding over $50 million in damages.
As noted in the lawsuit, some of Jenkins’ friends who were with her at the party told Martin at 4 am that her daughter was nowhere to be found. Martin then contacted the hotel, which told her that their security officials were going to review every surveillance video.
The lawsuit said that the videos weren’t reviewed until police arrived at the hotel, and claimed that Jenkins would be alive if the hotel had monitored the security cameras.
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