Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

‘We need closure’

Woman’s family pleads for informatio­n to find killer

- By Adam Sacasa Staff writer JENKINS, 2B

On what would have been Makeva Jenkins’ 34th birthday on Wednesday, her family pleaded for help in finding her killer.

At a news conference at Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s headquarte­rs in West Palm Beach, her grandmothe­r Gloria Harold described Jenkins as an ambitious woman, who after living pay check to pay check, earned a masters degree and became a successful entreprene­ur.

“Makeva had everything,” Harold said. “Everything she could possibly have.”

But at about 2:20 a.m. on June 29, Jenkins steady path to success came to an abrupt and violent end.

A person knocked on the door of the home in the 4000 block of Plumbago Place in unincorpor­ated Lake Worth and walked in. An argument erupted and ended with Jenkins being shot, detectives said.

Paramedics took her in critical condition to a local hospital, where she later died.

A man later told Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-CBS12, that the intruder forced six people in the home, including three children, upstairs. The man talked the shooter into releasing the three children before Jenkins was shot in the head.

Palm Beach Sheriff ’s detective Sean Oliver, the lead investigat­or for the case, said the murderer left the scene in a white Dodge

She said her granddaugh­ter, who was born Charger, then abandoned the car on Lawrence Road, south of Pensacola Drive, just under a mile from the murder scene.

He thinks the shooter either walked away from the car or had another car waiting.

Detectives are asking anyone in that area, between 1:50 a.m. and 2:20 a.m. on June 29, a Thursday, whether they saw a car on the shoulder of the road. “If they saw anyone walking, please call the Sheriff ’s Office,” said Oliver.

Detectives declined to answer any questions, citing the active homicide investigat­ion.

Harold says her family doesn’t have a lot of money. “I would offer the biggest reward I could possibly have to help us some to some kind of closure in this case,” she said.

 ?? ADAM SACASA/STAFF ?? Tina Willis, center, aunt of Makeva Jenkins, begins to weep as her family pleads for help in finding Jenkins’ killer. They held a news conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
ADAM SACASA/STAFF Tina Willis, center, aunt of Makeva Jenkins, begins to weep as her family pleads for help in finding Jenkins’ killer. They held a news conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

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