Woman’s death in hotel freezer ruled accidental by medical examiner

The death of a Chicago woman in a hotel’s walk-in freezer was accidental, the medical examiner has determined

The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Friday that Kenneka Jenkins had a blood-alcohol level of 0.112 percent, and was also using a prescription medicine for epilepsy and migraines. There were no other drugs found on toxicology tests.

Jenkins was found in the Crowne Plaza hotel kitchen’s walk-in freezer on Sept. 10, nearly 24 hours after she had been reporting missing. Surveillance videos from the Rosemont Hotel showed her stumbling alone through the kitchen at about 3:30 a.m.

The woman had attended a party in the hotel with more than 20 people.

Also on Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune, Jenkins’ mother made a filing in Cook County Circuit Court to secure evidence from the hotel in anticipation of a lawsuit.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Woman’s death in hotel freezer ruled accidental by medical examiner."