The Kenneka Jenkins settlement resolved a wrongful death lawsuit for $10 million in August 2023, with roughly $6.4 million going to her mother and siblings after attorney fees and funeral costs. The deal ended a negligence suit brought by Jenkins’ mother against the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, its security contractor, and a restaurant that had leased kitchen space inside the hotel. No defendant admitted wrongdoing.1CBS News Chicago. Kenneka Jenkins Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settlement
How the $10 Million Was Divided
The gross settlement of $10 million broke down this way:
- Tereasa Martin, Jenkins’ mother: more than $3.7 million
- Leonore Harris, half-sister: $1.5 million
- Kenneth Lee Jenkins, brother: $1.2 million
- Attorney fees and costs: approximately $3.5 million
- Funeral expenses: more than $6,000
The family’s net recovery came to roughly $6.4 million.2Atlanta Black Star. Hotel’s Settlement With Kenneka Jenkins Family Is Revealed as $10 Million
Who Was Sued and What the Lawsuit Alleged
Martin refiled the negligence action in 2018 in Cook County Circuit Court as Teresa Martin v. CPO Hospitality LLC et al., Case No. 2018L013273. The original demand exceeded $50 million.3Chicago Tribune. Settlement Reached in Kenneka Jenkins Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The defendants were CPO Hospitality LLC and F&F Realty Ltd., identified as owners and operators of the Crowne Plaza;4Hotel News Resource. Teresa Martin v. CPO Hospitality LLC et al. Capital Security and Investigations, the hotel’s security contractor;5Chicago Tribune. Lawyer Claims Kenneka Jenkins Might Have Been Locked Inside Hotel Freezer and Murray Bros. Caddyshack, a restaurant that had signed a lease for space in the hotel about two months before Jenkins’ death but was not yet open.6New York Post. Mom of Teen Found Dead in Freezer Targets Upscale Hotel in $50M Lawsuit
The complaint alleged that hotel employees passed Jenkins while she was visibly disoriented and did nothing, that security staff never reviewed the surveillance video until police arrived, and that real-time camera monitoring “would have saved her life.”7Chicago Sun-Times. Family of Kenneka Jenkins to Receive $6 Million in Rosemont Hotel Settlement The suit also claimed the walk-in freezer in the unused kitchen was left unsecured and that a safety instruction sticker on the door was “completely faded” and useless. Because Murray Bros. Caddyshack held the lease on that kitchen space, the family argued the restaurant shared responsibility for securing the area and shutting off the empty freezer.6New York Post. Mom of Teen Found Dead in Freezer Targets Upscale Hotel in $50M Lawsuit A Cook County judge separately dismissed the claims against Murray Bros. Caddyshack.8Chicago Tribune. Family of Kenneka Jenkins to Receive $6.4 Million Settlement
When the case was filed, a Crowne Plaza spokesperson said the lawsuit had no merit and the hotel would fight it.5Chicago Tribune. Lawyer Claims Kenneka Jenkins Might Have Been Locked Inside Hotel Freezer The family was represented by attorney Larry Rogers Jr.9WGN-TV. Lawyer Says Video Released to Kenneka Jenkins Family Does Not Show Her Walking Into Hotel Freezer
How the Terms Became Public
The parties reached the deal on August 14, 2023, as trial approached.10Daily Herald. Settlement Reached in Rosemont Hotel Freezer Death Case Martin’s attorneys initially asked to keep the terms sealed, citing safety concerns tied to years of online attention and threats, and all parties agreed confidentiality was in their best interest.3Chicago Tribune. Settlement Reached in Kenneka Jenkins Wrongful Death Lawsuit Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Cushing denied the initial sealing request on October 3, 2023, while allowing counsel to resubmit. By mid-December 2023, the record was unsealed and the full dollar figures became public.2Atlanta Black Star. Hotel’s Settlement With Kenneka Jenkins Family Is Revealed as $10 Million
Tereasa Martin’s Later Statements About the Deal
In a Facebook post on November 22, 2025, Martin said she had been “tricked” into accepting the settlement and “pressured” to stay silent. “They forced us, had us in rooms for hours, and would not let us go until we said what they wanted us to say,” she wrote. “They made us accept what they wanted to give us.” Martin said she still had not received her daughter’s personal belongings, including clothing and a cell phone, and that she felt she had been “forced to NEVER talk about my child again.” She acknowledged she could face legal consequences for speaking out but said she had “stayed quiet long enough.”11Black Enterprise. Kenneka Jenkins Mother Breaks Silence on Daughter’s Case
Background: What the Lawsuit Was About
Jenkins, 19, went to a birthday party on the ninth floor of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare on the night of September 8, 2017. Hotel cameras showed her arriving around 1:15 a.m. on September 9 and appearing fine.12ABC7 News. Video Shows Woman Walking Through Hallway Before Being Discovered in Hotel Freezer By 3:30 a.m., footage captured her stumbling out of an elevator, bumping into walls, and struggling to stay upright. Around 3:32 a.m., she walked alone into an unused kitchen area toward a walk-in freezer, though no camera recorded her actually entering it. Her body was found more than 21 hours later, early on September 10 at 12:43 a.m., inside the operational walk-in freezer.7Chicago Sun-Times. Family of Kenneka Jenkins to Receive $6 Million in Rosemont Hotel Settlement
The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled the death accidental, caused by hypothermia from cold exposure. Toxicology showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.112 and therapeutic levels of topiramate, an epilepsy and migraine medication for which Jenkins did not have a prescription. The examiner noted the two substances are synergistic and that their combined nervous-system depression “can hasten the onset of hypothermia and death.”13CBS News. Kenneka Jenkins Autopsy Results Testing for hundreds of other substances, including date-rape drugs, was negative.14WRAL. Kenneka Jenkins Autopsy Report Details