Family of Rockford Walmart stabbing victim sues retail chain, security firm

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - The family of Jason Jenkins, the 18-year-old Rockford Walmart employee stabbed to death on March 24, sues Walmart and its security company in connection with his death.

Curcio and Casciato, as well as the Owaynat Law Group, which represent the Jenkins family, allege Walmart didn’t do enough to prevent the attack. The legal team says Walmart has a history of violence at its stores, didn’t limit access to merchandise like knives and didn’t prepare employees for active threat situations.

“When there is a threat in a store, you have to have plans in place at the very least, people like Jason Jenkins should have been alerted of the threat so they could have sought safety. But unfortunately, it appears none of that occurred,” Attorney Casciato says.

Lawyers also claim Walmart’s security firm, Brosnan Risk Consultants, failed to turn suspect Timothy Carter away when he was in a “visible state of mental crisis” or warn people that he posed a danger. The family asks for more than $50,000 from each defendant, including Carter, for the pain of losing their loved one.

“Jason wasn’t just stabbed in the back by Mr. Carter that night, He was stabbed in the back by Walmart. Who failed him,” Attorney Mohammad Owaynat says.

Jason Jenkins was working at the Walmart on Northridge Drive when Timothy Carter, 28, allegedly stabbed Jenkins in the back. According to court documents, Carter claimed he tried to get mental health treatment, but didn’t receive care before arriving at the Walmart store. The documents say Carter grabbed two knives and wandered the store “giving all of the African American people dirty looks.” A witness also told police she heard Carter say a racial slur around the time of the stabbing. Carter faces first degree murder and hate crime charges in the attack.

Nila Jenkins, Jason’s mother says her son was a happy person who put others before himself. She says he had made plans for his senior prom just before the attack, and the two were going to go suit shopping. Jason was expected to graduate this May. Nila says the corporations failed to protect her child.

“My child is not the only one that’s in there working. You didn’t even check the people that shopped there. It could have been me he could have targeted. It could have been an old lady he could have targeted,” Nila says.

The law firms plan to file the lawsuit Thursday afternoon in Cook County.