Woman, father found dead after her toddler answers phone call from worried co-worker
.png "A woman and her father were found dead in an Illinois apartment, according to the Chicago Police Department. The woman’s two-year-old son was also found at the home, alive and unharmed.")
A woman and her father were found dead in an Illinois apartment after her 2-year-old answered a phone call from a worried co-worker, news outlets report.
Chicago police went to the apartment on the 8100 block of South Drexel Avenue before 11 a.m. on Dec. 7, according to a police department report.
Officers found a 27-year-old woman and 79-year-old man dead, and a toddler alive and unharmed in the apartment, Deputy Chief Senora Ben said at a news briefing, adding that an investigation is underway. No weapons were found at the scene.
The victims are Javonni Jenkins and Curtis Hardman, daughter and father, WGN reported. Both were shot to death.
When Jenkins didn’t show up to the Holy Cross Hospital where she works, a co-worker tried calling to see if she was OK, Nicole Worth told the Chicago Sun Times. At first there was no answer, but when Worth tried a Facetime call, Jenkins’ young son picked up.
“I could see that he had no clothes on, he was just in a diaper,” Worth said, and there were no signs anyone else was around. “So now something’s wrong.”
Worth contacted police and waited outside Jenkins’ apartment as officers went inside, WMAQ reported. A short time later, they came back out with a toddler and explained that her friend was dead.
“She doesn’t even have an enemy in this world,” Germaine Owens, who is a cousin of Jenkins, told the outlet. “For somebody to take her life, you’ve got to be some demon or monster.”
Police have not said if there is a suspect or person of interest in the deaths.
This story was originally published December 8, 2022 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Woman, father found dead after her toddler answers phone call from worried co-worker."