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Transcript of Bad Romance: Deadly Night (Revisited)

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Transcription of Bad Romance: Deadly Night (Revisited) from 20/20 Podcast
00:00:00

This is Deborah Roberts. We're taking a few weeks off from new podcast programming on Wednesdays while we work on a new interesting series to share with you. So in the meantime, we're bringing back some of our installments from our classic series, Bad Romance. Here's this week's episode. This show is sponsored by Killer Ken, a podcast from ID. Family dynamics can be tricky, and sometimes even the people closest to you can become the most dangerous. Killer Ken from ID explores real cases about how family life can fall deep into manipulation, obsession, and murder. Unpack what happens when Rivalry and Desire for Control lead investigators and relatives questioning what fueled some of the darkest crimes ever committed. Does evil run in the family? Listen to Kill or Ken wherever you get your podcasts. This is Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of 2020. Welcome to Bad Romance, a limited edition 2020 series you can watch on ABC Monday Nights right after The Bachelor. Have a listen.

00:01:10

Am I ever going to When a killer strikes in the night, everyone has a different version of what happened. Who is the man in the mask? Why would he target a woman who's a happy wife, a successful businesswoman, and a mother-to-be, and kill her in her sleep? It's a deadly night.

00:01:41

Am I ever going to love, going to love, going to love, again?

00:01:46

Mr..

00:01:51

And Mrs. Yuri Jenkins.

00:01:55

Makeva Jenkins fell madly in love, and now she has a beautiful family, a life she always dreamed of.

00:02:04

I pronounce that they are husband and wife.

00:02:10

She's married a man she met in church, has her own successful business, and three beautiful children.

00:02:17

She referred to her husband as her King. Her children, she worshiped the ground that they walked on.

00:02:24

Yori is so quiet and Makeva so open. They're so different, and at the same time, they're very similar. He loved her. They love each other. It's a picture of a woman looking forward to her future when everything changed one summer night. It had been a 90-degree, humid in that peaceful suburban neighborhood. Makeva is asleep. Their seven-year-old's in his room. The baby is asleep in a playpen downstairs. Her husband, Yuri, and younger brother, Quay, hang out with a friend in the makeshift barber shop in their garage.

00:03:18

It was late at night, and Yuri asked Makeva's brother, Kuei, if he wanted to get a haircut.

00:03:25

So I get in the seat. He turned the clippers on. And then, out of Noah, a mast gunman just walked in the garage.

00:03:37

A mast gunman came through the open garage door, all dressed in black, and he's holding a revolver.

00:03:44

I'm like, Okay, you got to be joking. So I laugh. I'm like, This is just another homeboy trying to scare us.

00:03:52

It quickly becomes clear this is no joke.

00:03:58

Now, all of All of a sudden, he grabs me. He has me by my neck and the gun to the back of my head, so I can't turn around and see or else how I get shot.

00:04:12

The gunman forces them upstairs makes them lie on the ground.

00:04:17

He said, What do you think? This is a game? You think I'm playing with you? I was like, I'm dead. I'm going to die.

00:04:25

The gunman heads towards Makeeva's bedroom. He opens the door, and Quay and Makeva's husband, Yuri, hear it, a gunshot, and the man runs past them.

00:04:38

Me and Yuri, we get up, we run into the bedroom, and we see a big cloud of gun smoke, and I can see a hole under her ear about the size of a nickel.

00:04:55

911 emergency. Do you need the police or the paramedics?

00:04:59

Hello, We need a paramedical. My whole world just fell apart. Mom, my sister just got shot dead.

00:05:12

She's dead?

00:05:13

Yeah. Okay, how many people have been shot?

00:05:16

There's a lot.

00:05:18

It was just... Hell. It was a real hell because I can't help her and I can't stop her from hurting, and I can't stop the pain. She's just sitting there, blood coming out.

00:05:34

Please get here now.

00:05:36

Oh, my God. Okay, we're sending help.

00:05:41

A critically wounded Makeeva Jenkins has rushed to the hospital. She's barely alive. Quay and her husband, Yuri, follow the ambulance. They can't save her.

00:05:58

Yuri was screaming about his kids, his kids, and he was like, Oh, I just got to go. I want to go check on my kids. And he stormed out.

00:06:08

And I remember it just kept saying, No, no, no, no, no, She didn't answer. I text her saying, Please tell me this isn't real. She didn't respond. I called my sister. Say, Bringakeva, it's gone. And I screamed.

00:06:27

I could not believe it. She's still supposed to be here, and it's like she's not here. So, man, this can't be real.

00:06:40

Makeva was a faithful churchgoer. And to her younger brother, Quay, She was like a second mother. What was Makeva like?

00:06:49

Makeva was everything. She was everything to me. She was like one of those people that just knew me the best, one that always had my back. I always tried to encourage me. I always tried to tell me the right way to go.

00:07:05

Yeah, she was your big sister, right? She was like, there's a special relationship there. Right. I mean, I have a big sister. So there's a way you look up to her in a way that's like...

00:07:16

Special bonds. Yeah.

00:07:19

I've heard people say, In order to know Makeeva, you got to know Belgrade.

00:07:27

Right. You got to know Belgrade in order to know If anybody knows about Belgrade, it's very rough.

00:07:37

It used to be considered the forgotten city of Palm Beach County.

00:07:42

People give up on you when you live out there.

00:07:45

There's no coming out. And I get emotional about it because there's so many kids out there that just don't make it.

00:07:56

Like Kiva did.

00:07:58

She really pushed herself to get out of that and to not turn back. She was that boss, check. Even when she was down, she still thrived. She just wanted to make it happen no matter what.

00:08:22

Makeva and Quai each have a strained relationship with their mother, Quest. Makeva was actually raised by her grandmother.

00:08:30

Ques is my mom, and she was doing some things that she shouldn't have been doing.

00:08:39

Ques has been in trouble with the law in the past. She's got some unsavory connections.

00:08:45

The night he killed Makeva, the man in the mask kept yelling something strange.

00:08:49

He was asking, Oh, where's Ques at? Where's Ques at? Where's the money at?

00:08:52

It appeared that the government came in specifically looking for Ques.

00:08:56

When investigators learned that Ques may have been the target of the killer, it suggests possible motive. But first they have to find Quest in Belgrade.

00:09:07

She said that if anyone wanted to find her, they knew we were to find her.

00:09:10

This didn't seem like your typical robbery.

00:09:14

For the detective, for all of them, really. The truth would be almost too strange to believe.

00:09:23

This show is sponsored by Killer Killer Kin, a podcast from ID. Family dynamics can be tricky, and sometimes even the people closest to you can become the most dangerous. Killer Ken from ID explores real cases about how family life can fall deep into manipulation, obsession, and murder. Unpack what happens when rivalry and desire for control lead investigators and relatives questioning what fueled some of the darkest crimes ever committed. Does evil run in the family? Listen to Kill or Ken wherever you get your podcasts.

00:10:07

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00:10:45

My sister just got shot dead.

00:10:48

The person came in was actually looking for your mom by your name? Yes, she was looking for my mom, man. Oh, my God, man.

00:10:59

Makeeva Jenkins is dead. But could this all have been a case of mistaken identity? Detective Sean Oliver goes to Makeva's hometown to find out.

00:11:10

The suspect kept mentioning Makeeva Jenkins's biological mother, Quest. I had to see if the best subject who came in and killed Makeeva was actually looking for her mother.

00:11:20

I did think Makeva could have been shot by a mistake. Makeva had no beef with nobody. I questioned it.

00:11:29

I met with Makeva Jenkins's mother. She was very frank with me, very honest. She said that she lives in Belgrade. If anyone wanted to find her, they knew where to find her. She had a white car, and that white car was parked in front of her house in Belgrade when her daughter was shot and killed. I ruled out basically that anyone was trying to hunt her down. That isn't the reason why Makeeba was shot.

00:11:53

So if the gunman was targeting Makeva, what was the reason?

00:11:57

This didn't seem like your typical robbery. This didn't seem like a crime that was just random.

00:12:04

Makeva had a habit of posting on social media to promote her businesses, but also to show off her success.

00:12:10

I have helped countless entrepreneurs build their business from the ground up.

00:12:16

When Makeva Jenkins was murdered, people assumed it was because it was right after she posted on social media that she had multi-six figures in her income because she was so successful at business.

00:12:30

Makeva was a hustler. That girl was a hustler.

00:12:36

She earned enough to buy all the markers of success.

00:12:40

She wanted these Christian Louboutin red bottom shoes like nobody's business. And she worked and worked and got those shoes, and I don't think there's a picture on social media that didn't see the bottom of those shoes. She was like, My brain doesn't sleep. I'm always thinking about what I can do next.

00:12:59

Mckeeva Makeva tries all kinds of businesses, a tax business, a boutique, a parting planning company. Some go bust, but some do well. Then she starts promoting a new venture online, helping other entrepreneurs.

00:13:13

Do what you need to do to launch the business that you've always desired.

00:13:17

Makeva did promote herself online. She was very fast to show the income she was making and the jewelry she was able to buy. But that led her family to believe that perhaps she was targeted by someone who wanted what she had. But the government kills Makeva and doesn't take anything. There's jewelry around there. There's money. It leaves everything behind. So none of this seemed to make any sense.

00:13:45

Makeva has a drive to succeed in high school and then to college. And while she's a student, she learns that she's pregnant.

00:13:55

She managed to keep her schooling and keep it going while she had the baby.

00:14:00

She earns a master's degree, but her relationship doesn't last, and she's raising her daughter as a single mom.

00:14:07

She wanted a family. She did not want to be a single parent.

00:14:11

She finally finds more at church. I know the church was important to Makeva. I know this wasn't her church, but when you look around this place, does this remind you of some of the places that she worshiped?

00:14:26

Yeah, it reminds me. She was real big on faith. When she read her Bible, she prayed every night before she went to sleep, and she always just kept the faith.

00:14:40

That had been drilled in church. Dating should lead to marriage.

00:14:47

It's in church one night that she meets Yuri.

00:14:51

She saw Yuri, and she was like, Oh, my God.

00:14:55

You have to introduce us.

00:14:57

I said, No, not me.

00:14:59

She I was like, I'm going to go over there and introduce myself. I saw her at the corner of my eye, hug him a little bit tighter than she had hugged everybody else. She came up to me at Bible study and said, Pastor, I think I'm ready to have me a boyfriend. I I don't somebody I like, and he is so cute.

00:15:17

Yuri is a barber and a pastor's son. A short time after their relationship begins, Makeeva discovers she's pregnant with his son. She's thrilled. Even though she finds out that another woman Yuri is seeing is pregnant at the same time.

00:15:33

As I say, Makeeva, I can't see any good coming from this situation if he's involved with someone else, because this is not going to be the life that you envision.

00:15:42

I think Makeva really loved him, was really hoping that the relationship would blossom.

00:15:49

He made it perfectly clear that Makeva was the person that he wanted to be with.

00:15:59

In the wedding, I was actually the one to walk her down the aisle. It was like one of the happiest moments for me. I took on the role as her father.

00:16:11

What was she like on that day?

00:16:13

She was ecstatic. What she had talked about all this time was finally coming together.

00:16:20

You make this in front. No, come on. You make that She was madly in love with him, and he was like, I'm married.

00:16:43

That was it. I think that was a maturity thing, and he got married very young. Makeva and Yuri make a great team, with her first daughter and two more children completing the perfect family. Through it all, Makeva keeps advertising on social media and hustling to promote her businesses.

00:17:01

Your business plan and your lifestyle must match like a puzzle. It must go together.

00:17:08

She was making good money, had a car.

00:17:11

She was in a really good spot. I was a little jealous of her because I couldn't even get that type of money.

00:17:19

She hopes they can move out of the house they're renting and into a new house they'd own.

00:17:24

Her goal was that December to be in that house, to have this huge holiday celebration with to all of her family, and to just feel accomplished like I arrived. The Bible even says no man knows the hour, but I just know for me, I just really felt like I was cheating. Someone murdered her. It's devastating, knowing that someone did it to her.

00:17:52

And then later, finding out why. The answer would hinge on a tiny piece of surveillance video. Hours and hours of interrogation.

00:18:00

You've lied to me so many times.

00:18:02

No worries.

00:18:03

I'm tired of being lied to.

00:18:05

I'm not lying to you.

00:18:08

After the chaos of the home invasion, the armed man hurting three men upstairs, then murdering Makeva Jenkins, the Palm Beach Sheriff's office starts trying to unravel the mystery. Why did this happen?

00:18:30

Today's day is August 10th, 2017, timeline 02.

00:18:34

Detective Sean Oliver, with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, is the lead investigator on the case. Killed in her bed.

00:18:41

Mass gunman came in.

00:18:44

Akiva Jenkins was killed in a home invasion, gone horribly wrong. But there are certain things about this case that just don't add up.

00:18:51

Law enforcement had some questions. Why was nothing taken? If this was a home invasion robbery, why did they leave the jewelry in the cash? Why did they target Mekiva?

00:19:00

There was a third man there that night, a close friend of Yuri's named Dimitri Dale.

00:19:05

You had Yuri, you had Dimitri Dale, and you had Mekiva's brother, Quay. They were all there in the garage while Quay was getting a haircut.

00:19:15

To investigators, Dimitri's behavior and the responses of the gunman raise some serious questions. When the gunman forces the three men upstairs, he makes Makeva's brother and her husband lie on the floor. Dimitri is left standing. Dimitri asks if he can take Makeva's son downstairs where Baby Zoe is already asleep. The man with the gun says yes. Dimitri goes into seven-year-old Yuri Jr's bedroom, grabs him, and heads to the first floor. Then he goes outside.

00:19:44

What's interesting is that Dimitri Dale stays in the enclosed backyard throughout this incident. The whole time, Dimitri does not try to run away, does not try to call for help.

00:19:54

And when the gunman demands his car keys?

00:19:58

Dimitri quickly gives the mass gunman the keys to the car, which raises a red flag.

00:20:05

The gunman then escapes in Dimitri's white charger. You know how they always say, Follow the money? Detective Oliver decides to follow the car.

00:20:13

So the suspect, when he fled this murder scene, took Dimitri's white charger. Now, the white charger was left within a quarter mile of the murder scene by the suspect, and we did a search through it. During the search, some receipts were found for fast food chains.

00:20:27

The receipts were dated June 28th. Just Hours before Makeva is killed, Oliver pulls surveillance footage from two fast food restaurants and discovers something stunning.

00:20:37

Happened to see some video surveillance from a Miami Subs where Dimitri Dale's white charger is in the drive-through lane, but it stalled or it ran out of gas. And there's a second subject that gets out and helps push that car.

00:20:52

So who is this mystery man in the video that night? Remember, this scene happens just before the gunman comes to Makeva's house.

00:21:00

There was nothing to indicate that either Quay, Yuri, or Dimitri knew the shooter. The shooter was just described as a black male, tall, and his face was covered.

00:21:11

Then, Makeva's brother Quay mentions a chance meeting the day before.

00:21:15

The subject had come with Demetri Dale to play basketball and hang out, and that subject had the same body type as the shooter.

00:21:23

We ended up playing basketball. That was the first time I had ever seen him. I ain't no one from a can of paint, but Yuri and Dimitri knew him pretty good.

00:21:34

So Detective Sean Oliver brings Dimitri in to ask about that friend. Could he be the man in the mask?

00:21:40

I'm not lying to you.

00:21:41

I had no knowledge of this. I had no involvement in this.

00:21:44

But Detective Oliver presses him, and Dimitri buckles. Dimitri admits not only has he seen the shooter before, but he actually knows his name, Jovonne Joseph.

00:21:56

Now, through this whole time, you've known since that day Since the moment he walked in the garage to when he, McKeeve was shot and killed, it was Javan. Is there any doubt in your mind it's not Javan?

00:22:06

No, there's no doubt on my mind. That was Jovan.

00:22:08

And Detective Oliver is now set on finding Jovan Joseph.

00:22:12

The one lead that police had was the car.

00:22:16

I was going to have to find out who that person was in the video surveillance.

00:22:19

That mystery man in the car with Dimitri?

00:22:23

That person at the time, we discovered it was Javan Joseph. You have a friend of yours that was at an incident the other night.

00:22:32

Who was his friend?

00:22:34

We're talking about Dale. During this interview, Jivan Joseph stated, yes, he was with Dimitri Dale at a house on June 28th. He didn't indicate that he knew anything about the murder, and he denied any involvement.

00:22:45

Makeva's killer would have been at her house in the early morning hours of June 29th. Does Jovan have an alibi for that time? All right.

00:22:53

Do you know where you were at 2: 00 in the morning? 2: 00, 3: 00?

00:22:55

I have a friend on my side, 6: 00, whatever. She's in the hospital. You People can't come to the hospital that late. So what she did, she asked the nurse. The nurse said, yes, she had visitors. So I went over there around that time.

00:23:07

I followed up on that alibi within the next day.

00:23:10

The detective pulls surveillance footage from the hospital the night Makeeva was killed.

00:23:14

There were cameras that show that he was at the hospital that evening. What Javan Joseph didn't realize is there's something called a timestamp. And we knew the exact minute, the exact second he was at the hospital. He wasn't there when the murder occurred.

00:23:30

I went to the video, you weren't there until 3: 00.

00:23:33

At the hospital?

00:23:34

Yeah.

00:23:36

I said, Where were you at 2: 00? Because I said the murder was at 2: 00. You weren't there at 2: 00. Couldn't have been.

00:23:40

Yeah, I guess I went there at 2: 00, but I know I was there, feel me?

00:23:44

Investigators are closing in. For a third time, Joevon's at the Sheriff's office.

00:23:49

This is a very unfortunate time in your life, but you also don't want to be the only one taking the call.

00:23:54

Taking the fall for what? But I still understand.

00:23:58

What don't you understand?

00:23:59

I I can't do this, bro.

00:24:01

As a prosecutor, we're used to witnesses lying. But although people lie, recordings don't.

00:24:07

I had a audio tape of him and Demetri Dale talking.

00:24:10

He offered me some money, offered me $1,500. I should never took this money for this, man. I should never did none of that.

00:24:16

Money? Money for what? For murder?

00:24:20

I was lied to by Javan Joseph. I have a lie to by Demetri Dale. But the two of them, things that they did say did add up.

00:24:27

Jivan Joseph, 19 years old, is not doing this on his own. If he were really a home invasion robber, he would have stolen something. This was a hit, a murder for hire.

00:24:39

A murder for hire and a shocking local TV interview.

00:24:43

It didn't add up. It was no emotion.

00:24:46

I don't know what to do.

00:24:50

It's going to be tough.

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00:26:00

Investigators have a solid suspect for Makeeva Jenkins' murder, but why would someone pay for her to die?

00:26:11

To the outside, Makeva didn't show the turmoil that was going on inside. But there were times when she would confide in me and tell me we're not on the best of terms.

00:26:25

Yuri and Makeva Jenkins' relationship isn't always perfect. Their marriage reaches a low point. Friends say when Yuri cheats on her.

00:26:35

Makeva expressed that she caught Yuri in affairs.

00:26:40

She was jealous, and he was friendly with Everybody.

00:26:47

So she thought that he was always out with somebody, and he really wasn't.

00:26:52

It's just friendly.

00:26:54

Makeva said she found out when she was pregnant, that her husband I had a baby on the way with someone else. She said she was devastated. She was hurt. Makeva was hurt about that.

00:27:10

She had broke the trust, and it was really hard for her, Makeva, to trust him again after that.

00:27:17

Plus, according to Makeva, the other woman wanted child support.

00:27:21

Makeva's stance was, That has nothing to do with her. That is Yuri's issue. That is Yuri's problem.

00:27:28

She was asking me, What should she do? The only thing I could say was that, You want to kick him out, kick him out. He can go. See you later.

00:27:39

Makiva did speak about divorce. She was considering it. She was very heartbroken. At one point in time. She wanted to just give up, but she managed to put it back together again and just keep on going.

00:27:58

Makeva Jenkins has substantial life insurance policy. Half a million dollars.

00:28:09

Yuri, quickly after Makeva's death, called the insurance company to collect on the policy. He even said that there's no money to pay for the funeral. We don't have the funds to pay for her funeral. They need to know that I'm in the beneficiary here. Actually, the application that you are not listed as beneficiary.

00:28:30

The beneficiary was Makeva's biological grandmother.

00:28:38

I'm sure that there had to be something or some indication that her grandmother would be better suited to receive that money in the event of her passing than her spouse. I think Makeva wasn't no fool.

00:28:52

People lie. Recordings don't. Yuri was greatly disappointed when he learned that he was not the beneficiary. When he was told he was not, he made an incriminating comment. Oh, wow. She hadn't changed it, Makeeva.

00:29:06

She hadn't changed the policy in time. In time for what? Makeeva's murder dominates the news cycle in Palm Beach County.

00:29:16

A mother of three, 33-year-old Makeeva Jenkins, was shot and killed.

00:29:21

Detectives tell me this is an ongoing murder investigation. As of right now, no suspects are in custody. And Yuri talks to a local TV station.

00:29:30

It hit me on here.

00:29:32

Oh, my God.

00:29:34

Just taking it one day at a time.

00:29:36

He didn't cry. He didn't say, I love her. He just kept saying she was an entrepreneur, a mother and a wife.

00:29:44

She was excellent. Excellent. How God intended for a wife to be.

00:29:52

It didn't add up. It was no emotion.

00:29:55

I don't know what to do.

00:29:59

It's It's going to be tough.

00:30:01

Once he did that interview, everything went like gasoline and wildfire. All the attention began to go to him. There were strong allegations all over the social media. There were people all saying he did it.

00:30:19

The majority of the people didn't even know Yuri, but they formed opinions by what the news said. He did not kill his wife. He didn't do it. He loved her. He really did.

00:30:38

But Yuri's own friend starts pointing a finger in his direction.

00:30:43

Demetri Dale was cooperative from the get-go. Now, I won't say he was honest from the get-go. You've lied to me so many times.

00:30:50

Yes, it's no worries.

00:30:51

I'm tired of being lied to. I'm not lying to you at all.

00:30:54

Dimitri Dale was nervous throughout this whole thing. Whether he has a conscience or whether he just saw the rest of his life in an orange jumpsuit, he decided to be the first one to come clean.

00:31:07

In a nutshell, Yuri tells you he's going to kill his wife. Two, you bring Jivan to meet him. Three, Jivan is in the back. You deliver Jivan by your own words to the scene. Within nine minutes of the murder, you admit to me that it's Jivan that commits the murder in a nutshell without going in all detail.

00:31:27

Without going in all detail.

00:31:31

And there it is. Yuri Jenkins was in on it. He paid Dimitri and Jovan to kill his wife.

00:31:40

I couldn't believe, well, I didn't want to believe that he was involved because I had that much love for him.

00:31:49

It doesn't even make sense because he just wasn't that type of person. It's just not in his character.

00:31:55

Two months after Makeva's murder, Jovonne Joseph is arrested.

00:31:58

That's Jovonne Joseph Joseph, facing first-degree murder charges. Accused of shooting Makeva Jenkins, pictured here in June, Joseph pleaded not guilty.

00:32:08

After Jovonne was arrested, his defense team approached the prosecutor and said that Jovonne Joseph was willing to proffer. Proffer means he was going to give information for some type of reduction in his future sentence if he is convicted. This is when Jivan Joseph admitted that he was hired by Yuri Jenkins to kill Makeeva.

00:32:28

It's the break that investigators need, and Yuri is also arresting.

00:32:32

Yuri, did you kill your wife?

00:32:34

No, I didn't.

00:32:35

But he maintains his innocence.

00:32:37

God vindicated me.

00:32:38

You say you're innocent? I'm innocent.

00:32:39

Yes, I am.

00:32:44

But a jury is about to have it say.

00:32:46

You know, maybe he just might get off and get away with it.

00:32:49

And to witness Makeeva's little brother, Quay, go off in court.

00:32:54

I just went blank and I lost it.

00:33:08

The long-awaited murder trial underway for a Palm Beach County man accused of ordering a hit on his wife, 33-year-old Makeva Jenkins. Yuri Jenkins made the decision to hire someone to kill his wife, to get out of a marriage he was unhappy in, and to get a payday he thought was coming to him.

00:33:33

Prosecutors tell the jury that Yuri's motive for killing Makeva was money, her $500,000 life insurance policy. The prosecution's case is that Yuri hired these two men to kill his wife, two men who took plea deals rather than go on trial.

00:33:51

People who agree to murder an innocent woman are not choir boys. They are criminals. They are liars. But sometimes you have to hold hands with the devil to do justice.

00:34:04

Yuri's defense hinges on questioning whether or not Dimitri and Jovan can be trusted.

00:34:09

The two key state witnesses were admitted liars. They had admitted that they had perjured themselves on numerous occasions while under oath. I told me the lies, so I can't really...

00:34:22

It's harder to remember a lie than it is true.

00:34:24

To understand what you just said, you told so many lies that you can't remember what lies you told that one moment to the next. In part, I told some of the truth, and I told some lies.

00:34:39

The prosecution says he's done lying now for a reason.

00:34:43

Why should this jury believe that you are going to tell them the truth today? I think at the very least, the family of McKeeva Jenkins deserves justice. Dimitri and Yuri were longtime friends. It was Dimitri who introduced Javan Joseph to Yuri as a person who could kill McKeeva. Yuri Jenkins is the one that initiated all of it because no one would ever thought to kill Makeeva if it didn't come from his mouth.

00:35:12

The third person in the garage that night is Quay Greer, Makeeva's little brother.

00:35:16

Like, I was on edge the whole time because maybe he just might get off and get away with it. I just went blank and I lost it.

00:35:27

Quay is coming in from the back of in the courtroom, and he takes off coming at us, screaming at Yuri.

00:35:37

I wanted to go up to him and choke him out and not let go until he weren't breathing.

00:35:45

The judge sends the jury out of the courtroom.

00:35:50

When a disturbance like this happens in front of a jury, the defense can ask for a mistrial.

00:35:55

Mr..

00:35:56

Lhermann, have you made a decision on what you'd like to do?

00:36:00

If I made any mistake in this case, it would have been when we had the opportunity for a mistrial and we didn't take it.

00:36:08

The judge delivers a stinging warning to Quay. He may testify, but from then on, will be barred from the courtroom. Quay talks about that night lying in the hallway.

00:36:17

I said that we need to do something. We need to either get up or try to stop this man or get him.

00:36:24

What did the defendant say back to you?

00:36:27

He told me that he He didn't want to do that because he was scared of getting shot.

00:36:34

Thank you, Mr. Brewer. You can step down.

00:36:38

The state of Florida has now arrested their case.

00:36:41

Mr..

00:36:42

Lhermann, does the defense wish to present a case?

00:36:44

On day five of the trial, the defense rests their case without calling a single witness. Often that means that they're going to argue that the case is so weak that the jury cannot trust the evidence.

00:36:56

This case is about lies and liars.

00:37:01

The prosecutor's parting words to the jury.

00:37:03

We ask that you render the only verdict that the evidence and your common sense would support, and that is to find him guilty of first-degree murder.

00:37:12

Before the verdict, I just prayed. It was just so much. It's just like you're waiting on someone to just save you and grab you out of that hole.

00:37:27

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been advised that the jury jury has reached a verdict.

00:37:33

I felt confident that this jury would be back with a not guilty verdict. We, the jury, find the defendant.

00:37:41

I didn't think for a second that he was walking out of that courtroom. Guilty of first-degree murder. The emotional roller coaster we have been on to now finally hear it, to I know it's over.

00:38:04

I was so happy, but it wasn't no type of verdict that could have brought Kiva back.

00:38:14

Yuri's mother is devastated.

00:38:17

He was railroaded because he's innocent. He's innocent.

00:38:28

Next question.

00:38:32

In exchange for testifying against Yuri, Jovon Joseph, who pulled the trigger and pled guilty to second-degree murder, is sentenced to 15 years. Dimitri Dale, the middleman, manslaughter with a weapon in 45 days.

00:38:46

But the person who is the most guilty is Yuri, and Yuri is the one who understandably and justifiably got the toughest sentence.

00:38:56

Makeeva's husband, Yuri Jenkins, gets the maximum life in prison. More than a year after his conviction, I went to a prison near Pensacola, Florida, to sit down with Yuri Jenkins. Why did you want to speak to 2020 today?

00:39:13

To get my story up. And so many words.

00:39:18

And that story is?

00:39:19

I'm innocent.

00:39:21

The jury clearly disagreed, believing the two men who were also convicted in Makeeva's murder. Dimitri said at trial, None of this would have been put in motion had you not approached him saying, I want to kill my wife.

00:39:35

Yeah, that's a lie.

00:39:37

Because I would have never come to you and... Dude, no.

00:39:44

But what motive would they have to do this in the first place?

00:39:47

Dale knew that me and my wife, we were making money. He sent his friend in there to get some money to see if we had cash on us or some type of money.

00:39:56

But the shooter left and didn't take anything.

00:39:59

If If Dimitri was jealous of Makeva and Yuri and wanted the money, why didn't anyone steal any money? There was nothing taken. This was not a robbery. This was a hit, a murder for hire.

00:40:12

He's in prison for murder. It's not surprising that Yuri disputes Dimitri and Jovon's version.

00:40:18

Without those statements, I wouldn't be in here.

00:40:22

If they didn't give those two idiots those deals, I wouldn't be in here today.

00:40:30

Not at all. Yeah, they got pretty good deals in exchange for their testimony, and some of their testimony on the less important parts were inconsistent. But on the important parts, the parts about the murder, it was not only consistent, it was corroborated by the evidence.

00:40:48

The prosecution claimed that she had asked you for a divorce?

00:40:51

She didn't. She didn't? She didn't.

00:40:54

Did you guys ever talk about divorce?

00:40:56

No, not at all.

00:40:59

So you guys were happily married?

00:41:00

Happily. Happily.

00:41:02

Makeva's own words dispute that. A text she sent to friends. I told him I want a divorce. I don't believe anything he's saying. Makeva's family, her friends, thought it was over. Yuri would be locked up for life. And then came the news. Yuri was appealing his verdict. Could his conviction be overturned?

00:41:32

Tell Me Lies is back with an all new season. I'm willing to forgive you after everything you've done. Everything I've done? What about everything you've done?

00:41:42

Now streaming.

00:41:43

Every single time you try to make something better, you end up making it so much worse. Every betrayal-Why are you doing this? Has consequences.

00:41:50

Because I want to hurt you, and I don't know how else to do it.

00:41:53

Tell Me Lies. New season, now streaming. Streaming Hulu and for bundled subscribers on Disney Plus. Terms apply.

00:42:05

Please, Paul, the jury.

00:42:16

Jury number one, was the verdict is read, your verdict? Jury number two, was the verdict is read?

00:42:23

After the verdict is read, Makeeba's family thinks the justice system is through with Yuri Jenkins, that he'll live the rest of in prison. But Yuri files an appeal based on Dimitri Dale and Jovonne Joseph's history of lying to investigators. Just before we spoke with his trial lawyer, news.

00:42:42

As we were preparing for this interview, I received a copy of the fourth district Court of Appeal's opinion affirming Yuri Jenkins's conviction in this case.

00:42:54

Appeal denied, says the higher court, because the witness's credibility are questions solely for the jury, Yuri's life sentence stands. At Yuri's sentencing, Makeva's grandmother shares a victim impact statement.

00:43:15

All I wanted was justice for my child. They came to the verdict I wanted them to have, but on neither side was a winner.

00:43:27

My heart definitely ached because I knew there were two children now. I have lost a parent to death, and now one to the Florida prison system. So to me, although he's in prison, there would never really be any real healing.

00:43:50

And her little brother, he doesn't think it was all about the life insurance money. Why do you think Yuri did it?

00:43:59

I mean, So, Makeva, she wanted a divorce, but who was actually going to lose in a divorce? Yuri was, and he knew that.

00:44:08

So he, in your opinion, he thought he would be on the way out.

00:44:12

He had the mentality like, Oh, if I can't love you. No one can love you. That's how I took it. She would have got a divorce. She just didn't have time to.

00:44:31

Hi, everyone. Happy Tuesday. I just wanted to share this quick little video to motivate you to move forward with starting your business. I go back to her videos. I look at her videos often just to hear her voice. I want to ensure that I get an opportunity to give everyone my undivided attention. Makeva had such an infectious laugh. She had such an infectious spirit. She was such a I don't think Yuri would ever know what he took away from us. Everybody needs a Makeva in their life. Everybody.

00:45:17

You can watch fresh episodes of Bad Romance from 2020 on Monday nights at 10: 00 PM, right after the Bachelor. And of course, tune in on Fridays at 9: 00 for all new episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening.

AI Transcription provided by HappyScribe
Episode description

A couple’s ultimate nightmare: a masked gunman kills a pregnant mom while she sleeps in her own bed.

(Originally broadcast 2/20/24)
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