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Colleagues Remember Slain Youth Mentor: Friend: Home Showed No Sign of Forced Entry

Posted on: Monday, 15 May 2006, 09:02 CDT

By Kytja Weir, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

May 15--Friends, church members and colleagues prayed Sunday for Curtis Jenkins, his family -- and even the two young men accused of killing the 29-year-old youth mentor in his northern Charlotte townhouse late last week.

In his free time Jenkins mentored teens, helping turn around the lives of about 10 young men. He was trying again, friends said, giving shelter to the 16-year-old found Friday morning at the wheel of Jenkins' stolen 1999 Honda Civic in Kentucky.

Shortly after Kentucky State Police stopped the teen and another on a traffic violation near London, Ky., police in Charlotte found Jenkins' body marred with stab wounds in his Prescott Court home near Sugar Creek Road.

Police say that the teen, Harry Sharod James, killed the man who gave him support and a place to stay. Adrien Moren, 21, who was in the stolen car, is also charged with murder.

A motive in the slaying remains unclear. Jenkins wouldn't hurt anyone, friends said. And the only thing he had worth stealing was the Honda, they said. A police report says his wallet and identification were also taken.

Nothing else appeared missing from his home, said his best friend Rodney Robinson, 40. The home Jenkins shared with his cousin had no signs of a forced entry, Robinson said, except for the split doorframe that police cracked Friday morning when they knocked in the door to find Jenkins' body.

Robinson may have been one of the last people to see Jenkins alive. He said his friend never mentioned anything as they left their jobs at the Red Cross together around 6 p.m. Thursday and headed their separate ways.

At 9:50 a.m. Friday, the Kentucky State Police stopped Jenkins' Honda in London, Ky., about 350 miles away from his home -- or more than a five-hour drive.

Word about the slaying spread quickly in the communities where Jenkins lived, worked and prayed -- the American Red Cross, where he was currently working; WBTV, where he had been a news assistant four years ago but continued to fill in when needed; UNC Charlotte, where he had attended and continued to stay involved with alumni activities; and his church, University Park Baptist.

His name was mentioned during Sunday morning services there. Two candles stood on Jenkins' front stoop later that day.

Robinson and his wife, Raina, cleaned up Jenkins' home Sunday evening before the man's family arrived to plan his funeral.

Raina Robinson was bent over a bloody stain on the center of a cream-colored rug in the living room, scrubbing away what had happened to her close friend. It was the least they could do, the couple said.

Staff writers Fred Kelly and Ken Garfield contributed.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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