Chicago’s young family is in shock after their father and mother were found shot dead in their apartment on the city’s southern side. The discovery was made after the toddler of the woman answered FaceTime.
Friends and colleagues became worried when Javonni Jenkins, 27, didn’t show up to work on Wednesday as a medical assistant at Holy Cross Hospital. Nicole Worth, a coworker, tried first to reach Jenkins via an apartment phone but did not receive an answer. Worth then tried calling Jenkins via FaceTime, but the person on the other end didn’t answer. Worth was even more concerned.
CJ, Jenkins’ 2-year-old son, was dressed in only a diaper and managed to answer the FaceTime phone call. He began interfacing with Worth.
Worth said that the baby was content playing with his toys the entire time I had him on the phone. “Once I had the baby on the telephone, after a while of no parents calling him, you don’t hear him anymore — something is wrong.”
Anxious coworkers rushed to the house and called the police to conduct a welfare inspection of the family. While they were investigating the house, police entered the apartment and gave CJ the care of his mother’s friends. They found that Jenkins, along with her father Curtis Hardman (79), had been shot to death in cold blood.
Although the boy seemed unharmed, he was still taken to the hospital to undergo a precautionary exam.
Worth regretted that “We came too late.” “We saved the baby. “That’s all that we could do.”
Jenkins’ family, like those at Holy Cross Hospital’s colleagues, is devastated by the violence.
Cherry Hardman, Hardman’s ex-wife, stated that Hardman and her daughter were very close. Hardman raised Jenkins when her mother died young. Although Cherry and Curtis were not married, they remained close friends and lived right next to each other, she explained.
Cherry Hardman stated that he was a kind-hearted man. He would help anyone. “He would help anybody.” I could call him and ask, “Curtis. Could you come and do that for me?” He would respond, “OK, let me wait.” He was a great help to anyone.”
Angela Brooks, who is reportedly Hardman’s stepdaughter or daughter, said that Hardman was the father she wished for.
“I know that my father died for my little sister. She added, “He was a hero.”
Worth recalls Jenkins as a woman who had “a heart of gold” and “wore her heart on the sleeve.” Brooks said that her sister was a “beautiful individual” who “loved being a mother.”
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, CEO of Holy Cross Hospital, has also released a statement. “On behalf of all at Holy Cross Hospital as well as the entire Sinai Chicago Family we send our deepest condolences to Javonni and her family.” “We ask that everyone keep them in your prayers and thoughts.”
Worth stated that she met Jenkins and CJ Tuesday evening, and had no concerns about their safety and welfare. The crime has not been reported to the police and no arrests have been made. Sonora Ben, the Deputy Chief Police Officer, stated that the shootings were unlikely to have been an isolated incident and that “the public shouldn’t be concerned”.
