Transcript of Tonica Jenkins

A vicious attack leaves a Cleveland woman fighting for her life.

She was bleeding heavily from her head, her scalp.

She's trembling in fear and screaming that they're trying to kill her.

But the investigation quickly turns into a case of she said, she said.

They tried every which way to discredit me.

She was yelling that that's her. That's the lady that tried to kill me.

When detectives finally unravel the truth, it turns out to be stranger than anything they could have possibly imagined.

We were dealing with somebody that was just incorrigible.

She faked her way into Yale University.

She gives her story about being abducted.

She'd snapped when she actually realized she was going to have to face justice.

I've never seen anybody try to fake their own death to avoid going to jail.

This was easily the most diabolical incident I ever had to investigate.

Do you remember what the female look like?

She's seated right there.

April 21st, 2001. It's a pleasant spring afternoon in East Cleveland, Ohio, but for the work workers inside a fast food restaurant, things take a violent turn.

On that particular day, there was a 911 call that came in from the Kentucky Fried Chicken.

What they are witnessing is a woman who bursts into the restaurant trembling in fear, bloodied about the head, and screaming that they're trying to kill her, not knowing whether this is something that is drug-induced or otherwise, they pick up the phone, call 911.

When first responders arrive, they find the woman, 27-year-old Melissa Latham, in a state of shock.

She had a large laceration or cut on her forehead and was also bleeding heavily from her head, her scalp. She was very coherent at the time, but she was definitely hysterical. Melissa was telling the officers, told officers that there was a woman across the street and her male cousin that assaulted her and tried to kill her. She did mention that she was injected with insulin during her assault, but she did not go into why or anything that led up to it. Melissa is very believable, but at the same time, due to the fact we don't know the parties or who's involved, it's a big question mark.

As the first responders are taking in what Melissa is telling them, suddenly unseen appears another woman, well put together, and she has her own story contradicting what Melissa is relaying to them.

A Black female walks in yelling at the victim that she tried to take her money from her. $1,000. Melissa saw her and actually climbed over the counter to get away from her. And was yelling that, that's her. That's the lady that tried to kill me.

While first responders tend to Melissa inside, police take the new arrival outside.

She was asked her identity, and she identified herself as Tawnika Jenkins.

The story that Tawnika gives is that Melissa stole money from her and from her cousin, Kyle Martin.

Tawnika seemed very believable. She didn't have any marks. On her. She seemed very clean-cut and pretty much kept with her story that Melissa took $1,000 from her. She didn't indicate that she was involved in no way, shape, or form with the assault of Melissa. So based on the totality of statements, it was imperative that we find out what was going on.

Melissa Rochelle Latham was born July 14th, 1973. She grew up in East Cleveland along with 4 siblings.

My father was a truck driver and my mother was a nurse. And we lived good. Everything was structured. We had chores. We had Bible studies. We sat down at the table and ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Coming up as kids, my sister Melissa was the one that I could communicate with effectively. We just had that bond. Melissa was bubbly, uh, outgoing, always energetic, always making us laugh.

Despite a happy early childhood, the '90s brought on a difficult era for the Latham family.

When my mom was going through her addiction, that was the time when we were supposed to be being nurtured. And, you know, it was hard. And my father did all he could. I ain't know what was going on. I was a kid. We end up— I remember moving from place to place with my mom's friends. Melissa started acting out from trying to replace what was missing from what we knew to be normal. When she was 13 years old, she got pregnant and had a baby, uh, her first child. She really tried, but she was a baby herself.

A second child followed a few years later, and Melissa, like her mother before her, began using drugs as an escape from reality.

The drug didn't take over her like that. She still was functional. So I really didn't know the difference until— until it was obvious. She started looking different. She started acting different. She would be out in the streets all night. That's what addiction does.

Melissa eventually had 7 children. And to fund her increasing drug use, she turned to a life of petty crime.

She was a booster, a thief, steal out of stores clothes, you know, sell them to other people. Often she'd get caught and she would have to go sit down in the county jail for lengths of times until she, you know, go to court and she'd come out. Then she'll go right back to doing what she do and get back in trouble and end back up in jail.

As a result, the state declared Melissa an unfit mother and placed her children in foster care.

When she found out the kids was gone, it crushed her. I think it made her slip deeper into her addiction. Addiction feels like helpless, hopeless, dark. It made her forget about everything that made her, her. I can remember her trying to seek help, but everything she did, she always found herself going back to the drug.

As Melissa entered her late 20s, the family moved from East Cleveland to the suburb of Oakwood in the late '90s, hoping to help turn her life around.

When we moved to Oakwood, Melissa started working off and on. She gets a job at McDonald's, and things get a little bit better. It gave her more clarity. It gave her more purpose having a job. But she still would go and do what she wanted to do eventually. She would find a way to get high. And unfortunately, that's what happened that night.

Instead of escaping her addiction, it appears Melissa might have become the victim of a drug deal gone wrong. As officers continue speaking with Tanika, Melissa's condition worsens.

EMTs on scene definitely need to stabilize her. Melissa mentioned she was just injected with amounts of insulin that definitely started to affect her, so they needed to rush her to the hospital. So as Melissa is being wheeled into the ambulance, she points at the residence, letting officers know that is where the assault occurred. That was definitely indicative for us to get over to that house and find out who was there, but also corroborate what happened.

Coming up, one of the women at this bizarre scene is lying to officers. The question is, Who?

Melissa tells the police that the attack happened across the street. Tanika says, no, it didn't.

And investigators hear the details of a diabolical scheme.

She wanted to know if he knew any females that wanted to make some money.

When the car pulled up on me, she say, um, what you doing tonight?

While Melissa Latham is rushed to the hospital, police continue questioning her alleged attacker, Tawnica Jenkins. According to her, Melissa has the story all wrong.

Tawnica gave the impression that for that day or previous days, Melissa was doing drugs with her cousin, Kyle Martin.

Melissa tells the police that the attack happened at the family home across the street from the fast food restaurant. Tawnika says, "No, it didn't happen at the house.

It happened at an abandoned building next door." Tawnika indicated whatever occurred that happened between Kyle and Melissa Latham. She had no involvement.

Although Tawnika seems to be the more believable of the two, often, Officers decide to check for themselves.

They've been directed to the family home by Melissa, and Tonika agrees to let them into the home. But then there is delay.

Tonika indicated it was hard to get in. She had to ring the doorbell because her parents were inside and they were, in fact, elderly. But after a few minutes, officers were able to make entry with Tonika. Into the residence. But officers did notice that she was being evasive.

Since Melissa claimed she was attacked in the basement, that's the first place the officers look.

The basement was not finished and pretty much appeared to be used for storage. There were bikes, boxes, a refrigerator, The first thing they noticed was a strong odor of bleach, and they noted that Taneika's mother was cleaning.

They asked her what she's doing, and she says that she's cleaning after the dogs because her grandbabies play down there.

Officers notice the coincidence and quickly spot something that doesn't add up.

Officers noted blood splatter on the stairs and a couple other locations in the basement. It was indicative of the officers that something definitely happened and further investigation was needed to follow up on what physical evidence might still remain at the house.

Based on their findings, police put Tawnica in police custody while other officers focus on tracking down her cousin, Kyle.

His officers were in the basement with Tonika and her mother. Another set of officers happened to be checking next door to both residences, and that's where they happened upon Kyle Martin.

Kyle Martin is sweaty. He's scratched up.

They handcuffed him and led him outside. We encountered Tonika, who's also handcuffed. At that point, Kyle noted she was handcuffed. And said, hey, you can uncuff her and let her go. This was all me.

Kyle Martin tells the police he is the one that attacked and assaulted Melissa. So with that admission, police then do release Tawnica Jenkins at that point to further their investigation by taking Kyle in for further questioning.

Checking into Kyle. He had a long, extensive criminal history— receiving stolen property, carrying concealed weapons, selling of substitute illicit drugs, and also grand theft.

While waiting on a warrant to inspect the scene, investigators employ a little trickery to get Kyle to talk.

We indicated that Melissa had passed away. There is no clean-cut rule that you have to tell the entire truth or be transparent during an investigation.

The tactic works, and with the added pressure from detectives, Kyle breaks.

Once he was advised that Melissa Latham passed away, He was very cooperative at that point and wanted to give his side of the story. What we learned, I think this was easily the most diabolical and thought-out incident I ever had to investigate.

April 24th, 2001. Police have Kyle Martin in custody for the attack on Melissa Latham, and he has agreed to reveal what really happened. Kyle starts by explaining how he and his cousin first encountered Melissa Latham.

He mentioned that Tonika wanted to know if he knew any females that wanted to make some money. It was through an insurance fraud where they could find females who would get examined, whether it was dental visits, pap smears, breast examinations, and they would make money from doing this.

Kyle says he didn't know the details on how the scam would work, but Tanika offered him compensation for his help, so he agreed without question. 4 days ago, on April 20th, he and Taneika went cruising for volunteers.

They drive around East Cleveland and happen upon Melissa Latham. She's walking westbound late at night on Euclid Avenue by United Furniture in East Cleveland. They approach her in a red, small, mid-sized vehicle with Pennsylvania plates. Cal is seated in the back of the vehicle and Taneika is driving. Driving. They ask her, would she be interested in making some money just doing some insurance fraud? And she agrees to do so.

Kyle says Melissa was under the impression that she was doing this insurance scam for medical payout.

According to Kyle, they stopped to buy drugs and returned to the house on Delmont. The next day, they took Melissa to the dentist for X-rays.

They went to Strongsville, Ohio, to the dental appointment, and he remained in the car while Tonika and Melissa went in for their appointment. About an hour later, they come back to the car, and from there they go to retrieve more drugs. And then after that, they went back where they smoked the drugs.

Their scheme had been a success, but Kyle says the following morning things took a turn for the worse.

Kyle Martin wakes up and he's paranoid from using drugs the night before. Latham is still there, which kind of upset him. He didn't feel comfortable with her being there. While she's in the bathroom, Kyle notes that $800 and some crack is missing. When Melissa comes out of the bathroom, Kyle is agitated and strikes her in the forehead and also in the back of the head. Tonika, hearing the commotion, comes downstairs and asks, what's going on? What's the problem? At this point, Kyle says, she's your problem. Cal then mentions that Taneika assaults Melissa with a brick. She was laying in a pool of blood, and Cal was watching Taneika inject her at least 4 times in the left arm with insulin. At this time, Cal's like, wow, Dr. Kevorkian, what are you doing?

Kyle claims he left the basement at that point to get some air, but Taneika joined him a few moments later.

Taneika mentions that Melissa has gotten away. At this point, Taneika takes the brick and also the syringe that was used in the assault, wraps it in a gray plastic bag, and takes it next door to the abandoned area between the house and throws it over the fence.

They have Kyle Martin in custody. He's detained on the— upon the basis of his admission that he's the one that assaulted Melissa.

It was imperative to not only corroborate this interview with Melissa, but also check on Melissa's condition. Upon arriving to the hospital, we were unable to interview her because she was still out of it. She had 6 stitches to the front of her forehead. And she had 25 to 30 staples to the back of her head from the attack with the brick. Due to the insulin that was injected with her, her blood sugar was dangerously low.

When investigators talked to Melissa's doctors, her injuries seemed to match the story Kyle told them.

It was corroborated that a heavy blunt object caused a lot of the bruises and contusions and lacerations to Melissa Latham, which is consistent with the brick that was mentioned by Kyle Martin.

Her insulin levels are off the charts. That corroborates what Kyle is telling the police.

Melissa was in a very critical state. We were very worried that she wasn't going to pull through with this.

All right, speak.

Melissa Latham. L-A-T-H-A-M. I just remember them saying I was lucky. A miracle of God, most definitely. I remember waking up looking— I had, like, scabs all across my face, a lot of staples in my head, and I had stitches in my forehead. I couldn't believe I was in that situation.

The day after Kyle Martin's confession, investigators get good news. Melissa Latham has regained consciousness and is finally able to talk to them.

We definitely wanted to be sensitive to her and her condition. First, we wanted her to be able to identify the possible suspects. So she was shown one photo array where she positively identified Cal Martin, and she was shown another photo array where she was able to identify Taneika Jenkins. So that helped us immensely, and she established that those were the two individuals that attacked her.

After identifying Kyle and Tonika, Melissa tells police everything she can remember about what happened.

It was pretty much identical to Kyle's, from starting with her walking westbound down Euclid, that they offered her some money so she could do this insurance fraud.

When the car pulled up on me, she say, um, What you doing tonight? I'm like, I'm trying to make some money. She say, well, we can have you make money. All you got to do is, you know, go to the dentist. I'm like, well, ain't no dentist office open at 2:00 in the morning. She like, no, we're going to take you in the morning. She gave me a shirt, a sweatshirt, which was a Yale shirt. Then she say, okay, when we go, we're going to make up a name to put on the paperwork. And she was acting like she was making up a name, right, for this insurance scam. At the time, I didn't know it, but she was putting her name under my dental work.

The reason wouldn't become clear until they got back from the appointment.

She takes us back to the house on Delmont, go back to where we was at in the basement doing the same thing, which was smoking drugs. I had went to the bathroom to, like, brush my teeth and stuff. The light was on the bathroom, so when I came out, wasn't no lights on. I'm like, could y'all turn the lights on? I can't see. And that's when I felt Kyle swing at me. I'm asking, why y'all doing this to me? What did I do? I know I didn't steal nothing. I'm asking them, what did I do? They was hitting me and punching me, and then And he picked up a sledgehammer. And she was like, no, don't use that. Don't use that. Just use the bricks. So he hit me in the head with the brick about 3 times. He was like, she ain't passed out yet. And that's when she grabbed the brick and hit me 2 more times. And I started putting up a fight and was fighting for my life, fighting and fighting and fighting. But I had ran out of energy. All of a sudden, I feel needles going into my body.

Kyle was like, what is you doing? What is you sticking her with? She was like, oh, this mama's insulin. I just want her to pass out. I'm like, Lord, I got to play dead, because if I don't play dead, I'm going to be dead. They was talking while I was— while they thought I was unconscious. She was telling Kyle, this is your cousin right here. We're gonna get this ankle bracelet off me, put it on her, because she's going to be me and I'm going to be dead. She was like, we're going to take her to this abandoned apartment next door and burn her up. All they gonna have to identify is by her dental records. I was scared to death. I just knew I was about to die.

At that point, Tonika has Kyle go up stairs with her to find something to wrap up Melissa's body so they can burn her in the garage outside.

Soon as I hear the doors closing, I heard them upstairs. I got up. I was a little dizzy from the insulin, and the spoon that me and Kyle was cooking drugs up on, I used the end of that spoon to unlock the door, and I got out the door. On the outside of the door was a pit bull. I'm scared as hell of pit bulls, but I wasn't scared this day. I got that door open, run across the street, went in the KFC, and I say, they tried to kill me. They trying to kill me. Could y'all please call 911?

For investigators, Melissa Melissa's story changes everything.

So at this point, the whole plot became very nefarious to us. It went from a robbery over drugs and money to basically an attempted murder case. Why was it important for Tonika to kill Melissa Latham to make her appear to be her?

Next, homicide detectives look into Tawnika Jenkins' background.

Tawnika grew up in East Cleveland. She grew up with two brothers.

She was living in the greater Cleveland area with her mother and father. Her father was a retired police officer.

The relationship between mother and daughter seemed to be as one would expect. They seemed to be very tight, very close, uh, traveled together. And I'm sure leaned on one another for support. Taneika was always the person that was labeled as, as the smart one of the family and attended Cuyahoga County Community College for a number of years back in the early 1990s. She then applies for a graduate program at Yale University in their neuroscience department.

She was able to get a full ride as well as $16,000 additionally with the grant.

It's during her classwork that the professor is perplexed because she's not at the level where she should be based on her transcripts, based on, on the letters of recommendation. So he picks up the phone and and calls one of the professors from her community college and wants some insight as to, how can I help Taneika succeed here? And that's when it starts to unravel. They have no record of her.

What she'd done was apparently created a paper trail that represented her to be a gifted young neuroscientist, when in fact she was not.

When they pull up her criminal history, detectives discover the ankle bracelet Melissa Latham described is actually an ankle monitor Tonika is required to wear from a previous conviction.

We were able to see that in 1998, uh, she was charged with fraud.

Once her deception was uncovered, Uncovered, Taneika was charged with counts of forgery and larceny. But on the morning of her court date, she failed to show up.

I'm like, this is not good. The judge is going to come out in a few minutes, and he's spitting nails today. Where is she? They made efforts to call her, but we were unable to find her.

Eventually, Taneika returned to her home in East Cleveland with a dramatic explanation.

She said the reason she didn't make it to court was because she had been kidnapped, raped, thrown in the back of a trunk, and driven to Philadelphia where they dumped the car. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that shows up in fiction, in novels, you know.

Coming up, Tonica Jenkins Jenkins' motive is revealed.

She lied to get into Yale. She lied about what happened to Melissa. She's a liar.

She'd already been convicted of fraud. She just was stepping up her game.

Detectives look into Tonika Jenkins' history and discover a stunning pattern of lies and deceit. A charge from 1997 for forgery and larceny after being admitted to Yale under false documentation. Taneika failed to show up for sentencing, claiming she was kidnapped.

Taneika gives her story about being abducted and raped. Then I hear stuffed in the trunk of her car. And somehow she managed to get out and drive home. That's stretched credulity. I'm willing to go a long way toward believing the narratives my client tells me, but this was difficult.

Her attorney even receives an anonymous delivery.

I was shown photographs of her purportedly in the trunk. Who took the photographs, how she got them, they raised some pretty significant credibility questions.

Despite the outlandish excuses, Taneika's attorney was able to negotiate a plea deal for her to repay the money she took from Yale and serve 3 years of probation.

I was prepared to try the case rather than and agreed to a plea bargain that involved prison time. Then the state insisted that she get a felony. But after several court appearances, the state agreed to submit her to what's called accelerated rehabilitation, which is a program that says if you'll complete a brief period of probation, the charge will be dismissed.

Tonika's police record shows that months after starting her probation, she was arrested again, this time in Florida.

We learned that Taneika and her mother, Tanika, were up for a trial for trafficking drugs. We spoke with the head agent.

At that particular time, I was in a narcotics group. We had undercover agents contacted by two ladies from Cleveland about coming down here and negotiating a drug deal. So we set up a time, and they met at a restaurant here in Tampa.

Tánika said that she had people that she could sell this cocaine to. And ultimately, what she wanted was she wanted to take 10 kilos.

We made an arrangement for them to show up to a location here in Tampa, a warehouse that we controlled, and they were to bring $100,000. When they came in the warehouse, the undercover was letting them know that he needed to see the money. The two ladies pulled the money out, out of, uh, vacuum-seal bags. Once he saw the money, he made a phone call where the second undercover showed up with a flash amount of cocaine. The mother actually cut it and taste-tested it, which no professional would do. No professional drug dealer does that. Nobody with any sense puts their finger in anything and puts it in their mouth that they don't know what it is. So we thought they've definitely been watching too much television.

Once Taneika and her mother committed to the exchange, the rest of the undercover team swept in and made the arrests.

They were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. With those charges, they were facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years up to life imprisonment.

They had their initial appearance in federal court here in Tampa, and the judge granted them a bond so they could go home to Cleveland prior to trial. As a condition of her bond, Tonika Jenkins was going to be required to wear an ankle monitor.

To detectives in East Cleveland, Tonika's motive for using Melissa to fake her own death is now clear.

Just as Tonika faked her way into a rape and kidnapping, she was trying to make this into an ag murder where she can to avoid her charges in Tampa, Florida.

She lied to get into Yale. She lied about where she was when she was supposed to show up for court. She lied about what happened after Melissa was attacked and escaped. She's a liar.

She'd already been convicted of fraud. She just was stepping up her game. It's troublesome to think that Jenkins thought Melissa was so worthless and that her life meant nothing that she was going to kill her to avoid going to prison for something that she did. I believe Tonika Jenkins snapped when she actually realized she was going to have to face justice.

So after speaking with the US Attorney and also with the head agent For her case, we were able to get 2 warrants, one for Tonika for attempted murder and for her mother for tampering with evidence, complicity, and obstruction.

Investigators return to the Delmont address and discover both women are gone.

So the only person detained is Kyle Martin at this point. Police go to look for Taneika and her mother and find that they have already left the state on their way down to Florida to stand trial for the drug case that they're trying to avoid.

Kyle Martin, Taneika Jenkins, and her mother, Taneika Clement have been charged in connection to the attempted murder of Melissa Latham. But prosecutors in Cleveland will have to wait their turn to try them.

April 2001, they returned here to Tampa for trial. Once I found out about the attempted murder of Melissa Latham, I figured we were dealing with somebody that was just incorrigible. To go from committing fraud Being caught to dealing cocaine is one thing, but taking her house arrest bracelet off and putting it on a dead body so you could fake your own death, there's really no explanation for that.

Taneika and Tanika were both found guilty on each of the two counts, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. The judge ended up sentencing Tanika to 24 years and 7 months. And Tanika was sentenced to 15 years and 7 months.

We had to wait a couple of years before we were able to extradite them back from Florida.

In February 2003, mother and daughter returned to Ohio to face the attempted murder charges.

We presented 16 witnesses that testified. The picture that was painted was one that Tawnika Jenkins, the daughter, was the mastermind behind what happened to Melissa. Melissa had to relive that night when she saw her life almost snuffed out. Telling the story in the factual sense was easy, but in an emotional sense, I'm sure it took a toll on her. Do you remember what the female looked like?

Yes.

Could you point out for the record where she is seated and an article of clothing that And she is where?

She's seated right there with the maroon sweater on.

Your Honor, if the record would reflect that Ms. Latham has identified Tanika Jenkins.

The defense has no witnesses to call, but they insist Melissa's testimony can't be trusted.

Kyle will not testify, and one of the challenges was Our witnesses, for the most part, were all either recovering drug addicts or still under the influence, still in the grips of addiction, starting with Melissa herself.

They tried every which way to discredit me.

You were convicted of a theft offense in Maple Heights, were you not?

Yes.

When did you begin using crack cocaine?

About 4 years ago. Spoke for itself. They had the dentist, they had the clothes, the brick, the staples in my head. I ain't hit myself. And they found traces of my blood in the basement. The mama was trying to clean it up. And I think that they believed me because Kyle confessed.

In her corner was the truth, and I think it really struck a chord with the jury.

In just one day, they return their verdict.

Tanya Jenkins was found guilty of two counts of tampering with evidence, attempted aggravated murder, complicity to commit murder, kidnapping, and felonious assault. She was sentenced to 20 years in Ohio Penitentiary. The mother, Tanika Clement, was found guilty of obstructing justice and was then sentenced to one year.

In a separate trial, Kyle Martin is found guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to 10 years.

Kyle said that he was scared of Tonika because she would have had him killed too. He was just trying to make it seem like he didn't have nothing to do with it.

I felt Tonika definitely definitely received the appropriate time, uh, meted to her for her actions. I felt Kyle should have received a lot more. He had a lot more involvement than I think he alluded to or admitted to, as well as the mother.

This case is different on several different levels. Her prior criminal history, for example, is something that one would never hear of. That literally is a made-for-TV movie.

In 30 years as a federal prosecutor, I mean, I've seen people who have been killed, mostly witnesses, so that they wouldn't testify. But I've never seen anybody try to fake their own death to avoid going to jail.

Tonica Jenkins is the kind of person that would befriend somebody and smile in their face and laugh and tell jokes with promises and just for the control to complete whatever objective she got planned. That take an emptiness.

She cold. She ain't cold enough, though. I got scars, but I'm still me. Me. I'm still Melissa Rochelle Latham at the end of the day. I know addiction is a beast. I'm just saying, be careful and be aware of your surroundings and try to get help because there is help out here, y'all. It's help, you know, and forgive yourself.