Kenneka Jenkins Autopsy Report: Cause of Death and Toxicology

The Kenneka Jenkins autopsy report, released by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on October 6, 2017, ruled her death an accident caused by hypothermia from cold exposure inside a walk-in freezer at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. Toxicology found alcohol and the prescription medication topiramate in her system at levels the examiner said significantly impaired her ability to escape. No illegal drugs were detected, and tests specifically ruled out any so-called date-rape substances.¹²

Cause and Manner of Death

The official cause of death listed on the report is hypothermia due to cold exposure in a walk-in freezer. The manner was classified as accidental.¹³⁴ Surveillance footage captured Jenkins walking toward the freezer area at 3:32 a.m. on September 9, placing more than 21 hours between her last appearance on camera and the discovery of her body.⁵

Toxicology Results

Three substances turned up in Jenkins’ blood: alcohol, caffeine, and topiramate, a prescription medication used to treat epilepsy and migraines. Her blood alcohol concentration measured 0.112 percent. Topiramate was present at a therapeutic level, though her family told investigators she did not have a prescription for the drug.³ No illegal drugs were detected, and the lab specifically tested for and ruled out date-rape substances.²

The medical examiner explained that alcohol and topiramate act synergistically: taken together, each amplifies the other’s effects. Both can cause dizziness, impaired memory, poor coordination, confusion, and impaired judgment on their own. Combined with cold exposure, that central nervous system depression could hasten the onset of hypothermia and death.³

Physical Findings on the Body

The physical examination documented stomach lesions, described as mucosal erosions, which the medical examiner identified as indicative of hypothermia.⁶ Brain swelling was also noted.³ The examiner recorded an abrasion on her right ankle and a bruise on her right leg. Beyond those marks, the report found no other evidence of external or internal trauma, no signs of physical abuse, and no indication of sexual assault.¹ Police also said they found no evidence Jenkins had been forced to consume alcohol or any drug.

A separate private examination of Jenkins’ body conducted after the official autopsy reached the same conclusion: no evidence of trauma, physical attack, or sexual assault.⁷

What the Report Said About the Freezer Door

One question the autopsy raised but did not resolve concerned the freezer door itself. The report noted the freezer had a mechanism allowing someone to open the door from the inside, and it offered no explanation for why Jenkins did not use it.⁸ Rosemont police investigators separately concluded the interior safety device appeared to be functioning properly.⁹ The combination of the toxicology findings and the cold itself was the examiner’s working explanation for why someone would remain inside a freezer she could physically open. Alcohol at 0.112 percent, therapeutic topiramate, central nervous system depression, and a 34-degree environment together describe a person whose coordination, judgment, and awareness were failing.

How the Report Fit the Police Investigation

The autopsy did not stand alone. Rosemont Public Safety Department detectives reviewed more than 30 hours of surveillance footage, used 3D measurement imaging to process the scene, interviewed 44 people including 30 who had been in the ninth-floor hotel room where Jenkins attended a party earlier that night, and followed up on more than 500 tips. Two social media videos were sent to a private lab for enhancement.⁴¹⁰ Hotel surveillance showed Jenkins exiting an elevator around 3:30 a.m. appearing disoriented, stumbling, bumping into walls, and wandering through a vacant kitchen area alone before heading out of frame toward the freezer. Police said there was no missing or broken camera angle in that area.¹¹¹²

On October 20, 2017, two weeks after the autopsy report was released, the department officially closed the case as an accidental death. Rosemont Police Chief Donald Stephens III said there was “no evidence that indicates any other conclusion.”¹³ No criminal charges were filed in connection with her death.

Why the Findings Did Not End the Debate

The autopsy answered the medical questions but not the public ones. Within days of Jenkins’ death, the case had gone viral on Facebook and YouTube, and the medical examiner’s conclusions did little to slow the speculation. Online theories claimed the surveillance footage had been edited, that the person on camera was a body double, or that shadows in the video proved foul play. Some posts alleged organ harvesting. Others targeted Jenkins’ friends Irene Roberts and Monifah Shelton, who said they had last seen her leaving the ninth-floor room around 2:30 a.m. Police never named either woman as a suspect.⁷⁸

The autopsy’s own account is narrower, and worth stating plainly on its own terms. A 19-year-old woman with a 0.112 blood alcohol concentration and therapeutic topiramate in her system walked into a 34-degree freezer, could not or did not operate the interior release, and died of hypothermia. The examiner found the physical signs consistent with that sequence and found no physical signs of anything else.

1
CNN. Chicago Freezer Death
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Los Angeles Times. Kenneka Jenkins Autopsy Findings
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CBS News Chicago. Kenneka Jenkins Autopsy Results
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ABC7 Chicago. Police Close Investigation Into Death of Woman Found in Rosemont Hotel Freezer
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Chicago Sun-Times. Family of Kenneka Jenkins Locked in Freezer Reaches Settlement
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Essence. Kenneka Jenkins Death Ruled Accident by Medical Examiner
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Chicago Tribune. One Year After Kenneka Jenkins Was Found Dead in Hotel Freezer, Conspiracy Theories Abound
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NPR. Freezer Death Family Settlement Chicago
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Chicago Tribune. Lawyer Claims Kenneka Jenkins Might Have Been Locked Inside Hotel Freezer
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Rosemont Public Safety Department. Rosemont Public Safety Department Statement
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ABC30. Video Released Showing Woman Found Dead in Rosemont Hotel Freezer
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ABC7. Video Released Showing Woman Found Dead in Hotel Freezer
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Chicago Sun-Times. Rosemont PD: Kenneka Jenkins Case Closed, Teen’s Death an Accident