Death of Kenneka Jenkins

The medical examiner's report found Jenkins' death to be accidental. Alcohol and topiramate found in her system were thought to have hastened the effects of hypothermia sustained by Jenkins remaining inside the freezer. While the Rosemont police department did not suspect foul play, they stated that their investigation was incomplete.

Jenkins' family and friends criticized the initial police response, and a lawsuit was subsequently filed against the hotel and others. The lawsuit was settled in 2023.

Death Room 926 of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, where Jenkins was partying shortly before she died. Kenneka Jenkins was a resident of the West Side of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. Borrowing her mother's car, she left the house at 11:30p.m. The party, which consisted of Jenkins' friends, took place in Room 926 of the hotel. near the front desk at 3:20a.m. 5 minutes later she was seen leaving an elevator on one of the lower floors.

A first check of camera footage that focused on entrances and exits turned up nothing, but at 10p.m., police spotted footage of Jenkins stumbling through the hotel. Her whereabouts remained unknown until she was found in the hotel's freezer by an employee at 12:25a.m. Sunday, and was pronounced dead at 12:48a.m.

Investigation The freezer, which was on and working, was described as a walk-in freezer within a walk-in cooler, Lights were apparently turned off in both chambers when she entered them. Questions remained as to why the freezer was turned on, although it was reportedly being leased out to a restaurant using space in the hotel. However, community activist Andrew Holmes claimed that he was shown police footage of Jenkins entering the freezer alone, with no other persons nearby to assist her. The autopsy report found no illegal drugs in Jenkins' system, but her blood alcohol level was found to be 0.112.