Anatomy of Murder - Money Play - Part 1 (Makeva Jenkins)

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

A home invasion leads to the murder of a young mother and entrepreneur. With a community up in arms, the recovery of a car taken from the home might provide some of the answers needed. View source material and photos for this episode at: anatomyofmurder.com/moneyplay-part-1Can’t get enough AoM? Find us on social media!Instagram: @aom_podcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @AOM_podcast | @audiochuckFacebook: /listenAOMpod | /audiochuckllc

Before we get started today, we wanted to give you a heads up to stick around because there is a second AOM episode waiting in this week's queue. This story had too much to talk about for one episode, but we also know that many of you don't like to wait for another week to get the second part. So Scott and I decided to give you both episodes at the same time, which means AOM is a two for one this week. Let us know what you think. You know, we see these things play out in movies and we think that, you know, real life is not like that. For some people, unfortunately journalist and former deputy sheriff. I'm Anastasia Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction.

And this is Anatomy of Murph. It often seems like the most successful business people, successful teachers, successful prosecutors, they all share the ability to put their whole selves into their work, to really put themselves out there in order to create a deep connection with the people around them. And therein lies the central irony of success. In order to be strong, sometimes you have to admit your own vulnerability, to take risks,

to face down your fears, and even those who might revel in your failure. Joining us today are two prosecutors who are no strangers to success and know exactly how hard it is to achieve that almost magical mix of hard work and personal connection. Adrienne Ellis is the chief assistant state attorney in the 15th judicial circuit located in Palm Beach County, Florida. Alexia Cox is the deputy chief assistant state attorney. Adrienne is the hammer, I'm the nail. And if you see us in trial together, you'll understand what that means. We just work very well with each other. In 2017, this legal dream team was confronted with a crime that would impact both of them

and become an important part of their careers forever. A violent murder in their own backyard of a successful African-American mother and businesswoman and a beloved member of the community. Here is Alexia Cox. We spoke together and we said, you know what, we think we should take this case. This should be a case that we tried together. And we wanted to make sure that we achieve justice for this family. 33-year-old Makeva Jenkins was known to everyone who knew her as a vibrant and determined entrepreneur, author, and mother of three.

She was also known and adored by her thousands of followers on social media. Where Makeva was more than just an influencer, she was an inspiration. Everybody said they were one of Makeva's best friends. And I think that just speaks so well to her character because if everybody feels they're your best friend, that means that you love a lot of people and a lot of people love you back. And we met so many women who were inspired by her journey.

That journey started here in South Florida under very challenging circumstances. She grew up out in our Western communities. Her grandmother raised her out in Belle Blade. And if you know a lot about Bell Glade, I mean, it is an area where there are a lot of people who unfortunately may live below the poverty line. But as McKeever would go on to prove, nothing would dim her light. Growing up, she stood out for her outgoing personality, optimism, and her drive to achieve.

In high school, she was elected homecoming queen and then it was off to the university of south florida with dreams of a career in business but as alexia tells us the road to success was sometimes a pretty bumpy ride there were some challenges there were some struggles but she was one of those people that was able to beat those had a child as a young mom. Even that didn't stop her from, you know, finishing college, coming back home and working and being a resource, like I mentioned, to the people in the Palm Beach County community. McKeever would even go on to business school where she would earn her master's degree. She was a single mother and an ambitious entrepreneur determined to make it on her own terms.

In 2009, McKeever met Uri Jenkins, the son of a local Baptist minister, and the two had an immediate connection. Together, they had made plans for the future, kids, successful careers, and the kind of stable home life that McKeever had always wished for herself. But those dreams would not come easy. The couple faced a host of hardships along the way, including unemployment, homelessness, and an extramarital relationship that resulted in Yuri having a child by another woman. It appears as though, you know, she loved him very dearly,

but they had challenges in their relationship, in their marriage. It seems as though they were overcoming those challenges. And that is a testament to Makeva's character. Despite all of the challenges, she was determined to make things work. She maintained a full-time job at a local agency. And in addition to that, she had little businesses on the side that she would do just to make ends meet. She was someone from the community where she was raised that would be spoken of as someone who made it. But for McKeva, it was not enough to just achieve success for herself.

She was also deeply passionate about empowering others. And she often posted on social media to encourage her followers to pursue their own financial and entrepreneurial dreams. Her popular posts even reached those in the Palm Beach prosecutor's office. You know, she would do podcasts herself. She would always get on Facebook. Every morning, she did these little inspirational moments where she kind of told her story and how she was homeless at one point and went from being homeless to where she is now. She was someone who was a hustler, and I mean that in a good way. She tried many businesses. She was trying to make it in life, and she wanted a better life for her children, her three children.

And that message resonated, especially in the South Florida community where she grew up, where many of the people often felt like the deck was already stacked against them. Which is why on the morning of June 28th, 2017, hundreds of her followers had tuned into her latest post on Facebook, where she wrote the following message, and I quote, I'm in awe of how far I've come. Here are some of her words. I've always written business plans for like my family and friends, but I didn't do it as a company. I was still trying to figure out what my niche was and what I wanted to do. It's not like it used to be in the past where men are the sole providers. Women get out there and hustle. They do the work and they kind of meet each other

in the middle. At least that's what me and my husband do. McKeever went on to describe how she had gone from being homeless in 2014 to making over six figures. It was a message of inspiration and hope to thousands of women just like herself. Here's Adrienne. She was just someone who genuinely cared about people. She had the experience that she had where she came from literally nothing to where she was, you know, that day. She wanted everybody to take that path. McKeever was right on the cusp of achieving all her goals. And then, in the early morning hours of June 29th, tragedy struck.

A 911 call was received by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office a little after 2 o'clock in the morning. The caller was McKeever's brother, Mark Quavius. Mark Quavius, who everyone called Quay, told dispatchers that someone had broken into the house he shared with his sister and her husband and that his sister, McKeva, had been shot. First responders rushed into the home in Boynton Beach and found McKeva in her bed, bleeding from a single gunshot wound to the head. They didn't pronounce her at the scene. They felt a very, very, very, very faint pulse. And so she was transported to a trauma hospital. And it wasn't until she was at the hospital where they tried to revive her that they ultimately pronounced her dead at the hospital. 33-year-old McKeva Greer Jenkins, mother of three, friend and inspiration to so many more, had been shot to death in her own home.

And within minutes of her death, 2017, emergency personnel and investigators from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office rushed to the home of McKeva and Yuri Jenkins. Prosecutor Adrienne Ellis was a firsthand witness to the events of that tragic and chaotic morning. I live in the same neighborhood that she was living in when this happened. And I walked out of my house that morning and I saw the crime scene tape down the street from me and I'm like, what's going on? Violent crime was not common in the neighborhood. And the sight of flashing lights and crime scene tape surrounding McKeever's house must have been unnerving for neighbors. This is a middle class neighborhood.

Her home was a two-story home. It had a pool, an outdoor patio. The kids had their own room. It was a nice family home. As the sun was coming up, investigators hurried to get statements from the other adults that were present in the house at the time of the attack. McKeva's brother, Quay, her husband, Yuri, and Yuri's friend, Dimitri Dale. Over the next year, Alexia Cox would commit to her own memory their descriptions of the events of that night. When the police were called, what we learned is that McKeever Jenkins had come home earlier that day from, I guess, a busy day, and she went to her room and she'd gone to sleep.

Her two younger children were sound asleep, her son in his bed upstairs and the baby in a playpen in the living room. Quay explained that the three men were all in the garage, which, with Makeba's encouragement, Yuri had turned into a home barbershop. It was after midnight when Yuri had offered to cut Quay's hair. Shortly after he's in the chair and he's getting his hair cut, that is when the gunman entered into the garage.

Quay described the gunman as a dark-skinned male wearing all black clothes and a mask that covered his face. Quay said that he thought it was a joke at first because he just figured like, oh, well, maybe this is one of Yuri's friends or Dimitri's friends that's coming over to joke around with us, the gunman came over to him and he said, snatched the barber cape off of him and was like, you know, you think I'm playing? And then he made him get out of the chair and get down. That's when he realized it was serious. As Alexia tells it, the three men's description of what happened next was consistent. The masked gunman ordered all three men into the home and then immediately forced them upstairs to where McKeever was sleeping. Demetri Dale, who is the friend, who is one of Yuri Jenkins' best friends,

he then asks or suggests that someone take the son downstairs because there's a child up here. Can I take him downstairs? And oddly enough, the intruder says, OK. And he allows Demetri Dale to take the child, who was asleep, downstairs. The gunman then forces McKeever's husband and brother to lie on the floor. Here's a portion of a taped interview with McKeever's husband, Yuri, as he walks police through those terrifying moments. He went home.

Man, Quaid was still on the ground. We didn't know what to do about it. We was on the ground. Quaid wanted to jump the guy. I was afraid. I just said, man, listen, if you got something, don't shoot nobody in the house. Moments later, a gunshot rang through the house. After demanding car keys, the gunman then fled the home and drove away in Dimitri like she was trying to breathe.

Makeeva was still clinging to life, but the wound on her head was severe. It was one gunshot wound to the head. She was laying on her left side and the gunshot wound entered the right temple. The close range shot could only have been intended to kill. It was later discovered by doctors that McKeever was pregnant at the time of her murder, which means that the killer had forever taken not just one life, but two. Back at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, Adrian and Alexia were learning the tragic news.

When I got into the office, Alexia pulled me aside and said, hey, so this happened. McKeever was a victim of a homicide. I said, that must have been what I saw as I was leaving this morning. Adrian and I both have younger sisters. So I think, you know, what we saw in McKeever was a young woman who, you know, was a go-getter. She was so loved by her family. She had children. And I think there was a piece of ourselves or people that we love that we saw in her. And it really made us want to work even more hard to make sure that her family got the justice that they deserve. With a community in shock, they both knew the

responsibility they bore along with law enforcement to try to solve this heartbreaking crime. And as is always the case, the long road to justice would start right at McKeever's home where the search for any physical evidence that could help identify her killers began. While the gunman was only in the house a matter of minutes, the hope was that some evidence might have been left behind. A casing, a bullet fragment, or if they got lucky, even the gun itself. But the only evidence of the gun would be McKeever's injuries.

The autopsy showed that, like I said, it was at close range. There was stippling, everything that would confirm that it was at close range. Typically in a shooting that takes place in a closed space, a contained environment, investigators are optimistic about finding critical forensic evidence. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. We did not find a casing. Obviously, that led us to believe that it was a revolver that was used. But there was an exit wound, and we didn't find the projectile either. We looked and looked, and the crime scene was there for hours looking for that projectile and could not find the projectile.

Which means that law enforcement were left with little to go on as far as the weapon used. And the rest of the house really didn't offer up many clues either. The gunman entered through the open garage door, so there were no signs of forced entry. And more importantly, there were no fingerprints. But investigators did have something even better. They had eyewitnesses, three men, Quay, Uri, and Dimitri, who were all present for the entire harrowing ordeal. And while none of them could positively ID the masked intruder, the obvious next step for investigators was to ask them who in the world would ever want McKeever Jenkins dead. And it's Quay who offered the first possibility, that the home invasion may have actually been a tragic case of mistaken identity. The intruder who came into the home was asking for Quest.

And Quest is a nickname for McKeever and Quay's mother. Her name is McQuesta. And so this intruder came in and he was demanding to know where was Quest. Where's Quest? So you may be asking, why would anyone target Maquiva's mother? Well, according to witness accounts, Quest had struggled with addiction and several times in the past had found herself in dangerous confrontations with people selling narcotics in the area. Here is actual audio from the investigator's interview with McKeever's mother. They were looking for you. They asked you by name.

They held everyone at gunpoint and they asked, where's Cuesta? Where's Cuesta? Where's Cuesta? But according to law enforcement sources, McKeever's mom was not only distraught over her daughter's death, she denied having any disputes surrounding narcotics that would have put either of their lives in danger. I was baffled because in her mind, why would anyone go to her daughter's house to look for her? She has a car that is identifiable. People who know her, who would be looking for her, knew her car. Her car was parked in front of her home, which is out in Belle Glade, which is where she was. So back in the day, I worked canine for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and I have traveled that route. And I could tell you that Belle Glade is exactly 50 miles from McKeever's house, so by car, at least 45 minutes.

This was in Boynton Beach where this occurred. Quest lived in Belle Glade, you know, so it would be odd for someone to come there to McKeever's home to look for her mother. You know, it's not like her mother lived there or was over there all the time. However, when you're in a moment, you're excited, your adrenaline is pumping, you're like, oh gosh, maybe Quest, you know, maybe she did something that is causing someone to come over here and look for her. So I think for Quay, I think he just felt like, okay, well, I don't know, maybe something did happen, you know, that involved my

mom. You know, I don't think he really knew what to think at that time. The idea that McKeever's mother was the intended target was sounding improbable. So investigators immediately turned their attention to a much more common motive, robbery. And that makes sense. Since just that day, McKeever had been online telling her thousands of followers that she had money in her words she was making multiple six digits so the question is had that sharing made her more susceptible to bad actors but according to Adrian there was a problem with that Theory too there was nothing taken if you've seen a home where someone breaks into a home and you see that the home has been ransacked. You see drawers pulled out. You see that there was nothing like that at all. You know, there was jewelry, a lot of jewelry,

on top of one of the dressers in one of the rooms that was very near where the gunman had to actually pass to go into Makeba's room. And the jewelry was not touched. And according to Alexia, the rest of the house was untouched as well. He didn't go and ransack any of the other rooms or to see what else was available. There was an Apple Mac computer that was right there in the loft. There were other things of value. Nothing was disturbed in any of the bedrooms. He just went directly into Makeba Jenkins' bedroom where she was asleep. It was dark in there because the lights were out.

He fired a shot and then he ran down the stairs. It was very quick. There was an entrance. They were led upstairs, shot her, and he left in the car. That's how fast this happened. It's clear that the objective of the intruder was not money. And that was very telling to investigators. This was not a home invasion robbery attempt. You know, this was a targeted murder. There was also something else bothering Adrian and Alexia as they tried to piece together

the who and why of Makeba's murder. And it had to do with the other people in the house at the time of the attack. When we spoke with Detective Oliver and we had so many meetings and we talked about it, we said, well, it's one gunman. It's one gunman. But yet there were three people. There were three men, you know, in the garage. And when we heard how they were led into the house, it just didn't make sense that not one of them would have tried to knock the gun out of the gunman's hand, that no one thought or tried to prevent this person from entering the house where they knew McKeever and the kids were sleeping. So we thought that that was suspicious. Now, as a rule, law enforcement will tell you that a potential victim of a crime should avoid physical confrontation of anyone armed with a gun. But we're talking about McKeever's husband and the father of the two children in the home. You would think he might make some attempt to stop this guy,

to put himself in danger, to save his family. And remember, there were three of them. No one bargained with him, grabbed the gun, or even tried to stop him before he fled the house. I'm going to have to agree with Adrienne Alexie here that I definitely think this sounds more than a little strange. The other fact that we thought was strange is when Quay gave his rendition of how it went down

when they were led upstairs. Dimitri was allowed to take the little boy downstairs. And at some point, Yuri was left up there on the second floor loft slash landing by himself. And he didn't try to call 911. He had a phone on his hip. He had a phone on him, on his waist. And he did not use that phone. He was up there by himself to call 911. He did absolutely nothing, except wait for the government to come back. The odd parts of the story just didn't line up.

And you know who would also agree? Makeva's legions of followers online. The public outcry from both her fans and the community over Makeva's murder was increasing by the day. People on social media and in the community over McKeever's murder was increasing by the day. People on social media and in the community, they start doing their own investigative work. I mean, they go at it. And so I think there was just a buzz in the community because people just felt like, oh, that's not right.

How is it that she's the only one that's harmed? You know, this doesn't sound right. Someone did this to her. This is an inside job. And that really drew attention to the case. In the weeks following the murder of 33-year-old McKeva Jenkins, investigators in Palm Beach County were still trying to understand who would have had motive to execute such a brutal targeted killing. The pieces had started, you know, slowly being put together to help the detective understand and the investigators understand what really happened. You know, was this a robbery? Was

someone really looking for Cuesta? Or was this something more sinister? But the killer didn't take anything from the home. And despite him reportedly calling out for McKeever's mother, Quest, she lived across town and it seemed unlikely that she was really the intended target. So that's when Detective Sean Oliver started looking at other people who lived in that home and the people who frequently visited that home. Specifically, McKeever's husband, Uri Jenkins, her brother, Quay, and their friend, Dimitri Dale, who were all present on the night of the murder. And investigators are going to want to know if one of them had a secret motive to harm McKeever,

and if any of them are holding out any pertinent details from their account of the events. And if any of it was true at all. The first step in doing so started with the recovery of Demetri Dale's car, the white Dodge Charger, which sheriffs had located abandoned just a couple miles away from Akiva's house. Here's prosecutor Alexia Cox. Well, the Dodge Charger that Demetri Dale had been driving was taken from the Jenkins residence by the masked gunman, the unknown intruder at that time. And that car was found maybe like a couple miles away, like not far. And so through the detective work, able to get that car, dust it for prints, like look for evidence in it. And

what was found in the car was something that some detectives may not have really even thought was important, but it was receipts from fast food places. Those receipts led Detective Oliver to a local sub shop, which thankfully had a video surveillance system that recorded all of the cars that passed through the drive-thru window. Detective Oliver retrieved surveillance video from the time that was stamped on that receipt. That timestamp was from the afternoon on the day of McKeever's murder. And as they expected, CCTV footage showed Dimitri Dale in the driver's seat of the Charger. But it also revealed an unidentified passenger nextri Dale in the driver's seat of the Charger, but it also revealed an unidentified passenger next to him in the car. Well, the Charger was driven by Dimitri Dale,

and you have this other person, this other male get out of the car. And I think it just kind of to him like, okay, well, who's this other guy? Like, I mean, he didn't know whether it had anything to do with this or not. He just wanted to know, well, who is this other male in the car? Could there possibly be a connection to the homicide? Detective Scott Oliver from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confronted Dale with both the receipts and the video footage. Petrie Dale gave the name Jovan Joseph. And so that's when Jovan Joseph's name first enters into the conversation. Dale hadn't mentioned Jovan's name to investigators before. You know what he also hadn't mentioned?

That Jovan Joseph had also been at Makeva's house on the day of the murder. And Scott, you know, we have to stop right there because like, is that a record scratch or is it something else? Because right away it's like, what? How's that guy in the house? And he doesn't even mention it. I think of it as a mic drop, but record scratch works as well. I mean, that's a little bit of information that you would think would come out way before we're introducing some video footage or now that someone realizes that there's somebody

on this tape from that location that needs explaining. So, yeah, things are starting to really heat up here in the sense of identifying all the people who were in the house and really who may be involved in this murder. And again, to be fair, is it possible that it's just odd? Maybe. But Dale did go on to say this. Demetri Dale stated that Jovan Joseph came to the home, they played basketball, and the first conversation that he had about Jovan being at the house was very, you know, like, oh, my friend needed a haircut. I knew of somebody who cut hair and like, I just brought him over. It was very not serious, nothing important to note.

Demetri Dale went on to explain that he drove Javon home before returning to the Jenkins residence in his white Charger. But according to Alexia, Dale's demeanor with investigators was starting to raise red flags. He is very much in self-preservation mode. When you have someone who wants to make sure that they are not the target, they will divulge certain things, maybe not even intentionally to get the heat off of them,

but they don't realize that they're also giving the detectives more to work with. So now we have a fourth man that was allegedly at McKeever's home on the day of the murder. And while any potential motive may still be a mystery, that is clearly enough to make him a person of interest. Detective Oliver then contacted Javon Joseph and asked

him to come in. And he came in voluntarily. Thanks for coming down. We'll make this back. All right. Just to confirm, you're here of your own free will. You don't feel like you're under arrest or anything, do you? I don't own free will. Do you feel like you're under arrest or anything? I don't know. You know you can leave anytime you want. At that point, Detective Oliver confronts him with, you know, statements that Demetri Dale has said, statements that Quay has said. And Javon Joseph at that time, his statement is, I don't know what you're talking about. I have no idea what you're talking about.

You know, I don't know this man. I don't know these people. So Jovan Joseph gives nothing. He gives absolutely nothing. So on its face, Scott, you know, why would Demetri Dale give a name of some person he didn't know? Right. I mean, is it just to sidetrack the investigation to cover for himself or someone else? Because it seems like something that investigators could root out if it's false information pretty quickly. I think it could be any of those things that you mentioned, Anasiga. But think about what the detective is doing here. He has an opportunity to confront this person. He has an opportunity to have him in the room and to really see his reaction to say that we've got

proof that you were somewhere, and now you're saying the opposite. So in a sense, he's telling him he's not under arrest and he's free to leave, but you want to see his reaction because his reaction could tell you a lot. And Joseph did go on to give an alibi for the time of the crime. He claimed that on the night of the murder, that at that point he had been at a local hospital visiting a sick girlfriend. Did you know where you were at two in the morning? Two, three, four? Yeah, I was supposed to be

meeting up with this girl. I have a friend on my side chicks or whatever. She's in the hospital. Her name is Lily. But rather than take his or his girlfriend's word for it, police instead checked the videotape.

We did pull the footage at the hospital and we have a still of him going in. He identifies that as himself going in. It seemed that Joseph's alibi would hold up, but there was just one little problem. The CCTV footage from the hospital captured Joseph's entry at 4 a.m., which is two hours after McKeever was killed.

So that now is the absolute mic drop. It's like, because you give this alibi, but your timing is off by two hours. And I will give a but there because we always have to take it from the other side. Does that mean that he is the person who had come into the house? No, but it certainly is starting to go in the direction

of police really need to get to the bottom of who is telling which untruth here. And they certainly can't eliminate Javon Joseph at a person of interest, right, Scott? Or discount the possibility even that maybe Dale and Joseph are working together. Yeah. So first, let me say, when it comes to CCTV footage, timestamps, they're not always correct, right? So I wouldn't call the troops yet because that has to be confirmed more than just that one timestamp on that one tape. But if it's true, using the timeline, they were able to determine that they had been together on the day of the

murder. And remember, according to Quay, Dimitri Dale had actually asked the gunman if it could take McKeever's son downstairs. And the gunman actually had let him. And this one I could go both ways on, right? Because I've certainly seen multiple cases where although the person is a killer and diabolical in many ways, when it comes to children in a home, they've had a line and they've let them go or even let them go with someone else. So, OK, it could go in that direction, but it also could certainly point to some sort of collaboration, you know, and that's exactly what Detective Oliver was setting out to prove. So he knows he's onto something. It's, you know, just a matter of finding the

right information to prove who's lying about what. That's the mission that he was on. And he kept going until he was able to find the information that he needed and that we needed to be able to prove that each of them were involved. But even with two viable suspects, one huge mystery remains. Why? Nothing was stolen.

Dale and Joseph apparently had no prior relationship with Makeeva. So what motive would either of them have to kill her? The answer to that question and many more is coming up in part two. On the next Anatomy of Murder. Did he say he was going to give you any money? Yeah, he told me he'll give me $10,000 if I take him off child support. They took a light away from the community and they wanted to know who did this.

I did not know this was going to happen. I was not promised to die. I'm tired of being lied to. I'm not lying to you at all. You can listen to part two of this episode right now. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder. Anatomy of Murder is an AudioChuck original

produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frasetti Media. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. This episode was written and produced by Walker Lamond, researched by Kate Cooper, edited by Ali Sirwa, Megan Hayward, and Philjean Grande. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?