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Kenneka Jenkins’ family suing the hotel where her body was found in a freezer for $50 million

Kenneka Jenkins, the Chicago teen who was found dead in hotel’s freezer in 2017 family is now suing for $50 million in damages. On Tuesday the family had a press conference to announce the suit against the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel, the hotel’s third-party security team and the restaurant in charge of the freezer, ABC30 reported.

The family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said, “Through pure negligence, someone noticed that the doors in the kitchen were open. They locked them, they locked them like they should have been locked. They locked the freezer. And unfortunately, they locked Kenneka into the freezer.”

Security footage shows no one else opened the freezer or entered the kitchen until Jenkins’ body was found. An autopsy discovered the teenager died from hypothermia. The 19-year-old also had alcohol and an epilepsy drug in her system.

Jenkins’ mother, Teresa Martin, said the hotel has been secretive about the circumstances of her daughter’s death, according to WGN-TV.

“I feel like I was seeking answers that I have not received until now,” Martin said.

The hotel plans to fight the pending lawsuit but acknowledges Jenkins’ death was a tragedy.

“The death of Kenneka Jenkins was a tragedy, but the proximate cause of her death were the unsavory individuals who used a stolen credit card to book a room and host an illegal party which Ms. Jenkins attended,” the Crowne Plaza said in a statement. “Those criminals escaped the hotel before police arrived and have never truly been held accountable. This lawsuit has no merit and we will vigorously contest it.”

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