Just before 7 p.m. May 28, Janiya Jenkins returned from work to her Streamwood home where her 10-year-old sister played a video game and her 7-year-old brother rode a scooter around in the parking lot.
Shortly after, the placid family evening was interrupted when, prosecutors alleged, Jenkins’ brother, Jalonie, stabbed her so brutally that her trachea was split in half.
Jalonie Jenkins, 25, is charged with two counts of murder, accused of killing his sisters, Janiya Jenkins, 21, and Eyani Jones, 10, in their home in the 1600 block of McKool Avenue of the northwest suburb. A judge ordered him detained Friday after he appeared in court in Rolling Meadows.
The judge also ordered that Jenkins be evaluated by a health care professional because he reported he is hearing voices and having dissociative feelings.
In arguing to keep Jenkins in jail while awaiting trial, Cook County prosecutors in a proffer to the court offered new details about the bloody attack that was witnessed by Janiya Jenkins’ 3-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old brother. It was also overheard by a friend of Eyani’s who was on a call on the social media app Snapchat while the two played the video game together.
Through the app, Eyani’s friend heard screaming, along with Jenkins’ 3-year-old “telling her mom to get up and asking why she was on the floor,” according to the proffer.
She also heard Janiya Jenkins begging the defendant to not kill the kids, prosecutors said.
The call abruptly cut off after Eyani screamed for her to call 911, the proffer said. She asked her mother to check on the family.
The 7-year-old who was scootering outside came in and saw blood coming down the stairs, the proffer said. Janiya Jenkins told him to grab her daughter and leave.
Jalonie Jenkins then pushed the boy down the stairs, the proffer alleged, and put him and the 3-year-old in a bathroom.
A surveillance camera captured Jalonie Jenkins grabbing bags and the family dog and leaving the house, according to the proffer.
After about 20 minutes, the proffer said, the boy left the bathroom and tried to perform CPR on his sisters. He dressed his niece in pants and shoes and went to knock on a neighbor’s door for help.
Through license plate cameras, police saw that Jalonie Jenkins drove to a Bensenville park. He tried to sell his car to people who declined, the proffer said.
Later, he was arrested by Downers Grove police and admitted to killing his sisters, the proffer said.
His next court date is June 26.
