ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Winnebago County Coroner has identified Jason Jenkins, 18, as the Walmart employee who was murdered in a random attack inside a Rockford store Sunday night.
According to Rockford Police, officers were called to the Walmart, at 3849 Northridge Drive, around 6:05 p.m.
According to the criminal complaint, surveillance video from the store showed Timothy Carter, 28, grabbing two knives off of the store shelves — a silver kitchen knife, and a red hunting knife — and then wandering around the store “giving all of the African American people dirty looks.”
He then reportedly walked up behind Jenkins and stabbed him once in the back, according to the court documents.
Witnesses said they heard the victim screaming for help. One told police they heard Carter utter a racial slur after the stabbing.
Jenkins was taken to Javon Bea Mercyhealth Riverside where he underwent emergency surgery, but died later, at 7:48 p.m.
Carter was arrested and charged with First Degree Murder.
Walmart issued a statement on Monday, saying, “We’re devastated to learn that one of our associates has died following a violent attack inside our Rockford, IL store. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and will continue providing our associates with the support they need.
Actions like this are inexcusable, and we’re grateful to law enforcement for their swift action in arresting the presumed attacker. We’ll continue helping them in every possible way throughout their investigation.”
According to the arrest report, Carter told authorities that he was having a mental health crisis earlier that afternoon and sought mental health treatment from Rosecrance, at 605 Mulberrry Street.
When staff allegedly denied him treatment, Carter said he would kill himself, prompting the staff to transport him to UW Health Swedish American. Carter told police he did not receive mental health treatment and was released.
In a follow-up statement, Rosecrance said, “As with the rest of our community, Rosecrance is shocked by this recent act of violence and unthinkable loss of life. While we cannot and will not speak about the person involved in this incident, there are times in which individuals may seek our treatment but are assessed to be an acute risk to self or others. In these cases, we will safely refer those individuals to a higher level of care.”
A UW Health representative said, “Patients aged 10 and up who present to the emergency department are screened for risk of harm to self or others and triaged appropriately.”
