Family Of Kenneka Jenkins Agrees To $10M Settlement In Hotel Freezer Death

UPDATE: Five years after filing a $50 million lawsuit against the Crowne Plaza Hotel where Kenneka Jenkins died in a freezer, her family has agreed to a $10 million settlement.

According to court records from the case made public on Tuesday, Kenneka’s mother, Tereasa Martin will receive about $3.7 million.

Other family members will receive $2.7 million, $3.5 million will go toward attorney fees, and $6,000 will be allocated to cover Kenneka’s funeral costs. (Source: NBC News)

Read the original October 6, 2023, post below.

Tereasa Martin, the mother of Kenneka Jenkins, has settled the $50 million lawsuit in connection to her daughter’s 2017 death. 

Kenneka was found dead inside the freezer of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on September 10, 2017, nearly 24 hours after she disappeared from a party in a room on the ninth floor.

Hotel surveillance videos showed the 19-year-old wandering alone through the kitchen area near the freezer shortly after she disappeared.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office found that Kenneka Jenkins died from hypothermia and ruled her death an accident. 

Alcohol intoxication and the use of a drug for treating epilepsy and migraines were “significant contributing factors” in her death, the office said.

Kenneka’s death sparked endless speculation and theories across social media.

In December 2018, her mother filed a $50 million lawsuit against Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, its security company, and a restaurant that rented the walk-in freezer where Kenneka was found dead.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of being negligent because they didn’t secure the freezer or conduct a proper search following Kenneka’s disappearance. 

Now that a settlement has been reached, Kenneka’s other is asking the courts to seal the terms from the public for safety reasons. 

A judge denied the request on Tuesday but asked the mother’s attorney to resubmit the request. 

In the motion, Tereasa Martin’s attorney 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.”

Having the settlement terms sealed would provide some privacy and security for the family.

Hopefully, a judge will grant the motion to protect this family. They have endured enough.

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Source: AP News