Articles Feature

Jenkins’ Family, Friends Say ‘Stop the Violence’

by richard01883

‘Shock Waves Through the Journalism Community’
7 Years Later, Slaying of D.C. Reporter Unsolved

Homepage photo: Scores of friends and family attend a vigil for Sierra Jenkins on Sunday night at Granby High School in Norfolk, Va. (Credit: Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

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Sierra Jenkins, a reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., is shown with her goddaughter, Tristen Desiré Smith. (Virginian-Pilot, Courtesy of Demmi Nimer)

‘Shock Waves Through the Journalism Community’


“Scores of family members and friends gathered at Granby High School in Norfolk Sunday night to honor 25-year-old Sierra Jenkins, who was fatally shot when gunfire erupted on Granby Street early Saturday,” Caitlyn Burchett reported for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.

“Many in attendance were dressed in orange — Jenkins’ favorite color — and carried candles to light in her memory.

“As people gathered, murmurs of disbelief and denial rippled across the crowd.

“One by one, Jenkins’ mother, father, aunts, uncles, teachers and dear friends addressed the group.

“The prevailing message: ‘Stop the violence.’

“Jenkins (pictured at her 2019 graduation from Georgia State University; courtesy Maurice Jenkins), a reporter at The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, was one of two people killed outside Chicho’s Pizza Backstage in downtown Norfolk as the popular nightspot closed. Jenkins had been there with her best friend, according to her family. The restaurant and bar was closing when an argument started outside, and Jenkins was caught in the line of fire as she left.

[“The gunfire allegedly stemmed from an argument over a spilled drink,” Burchett reported Tuesday. “That’s what Police Chief Larry Boone told a meeting of the Downtown Norfolk Civic League on Monday night.”]

“In all, five people were shot in the incident shortly after 1:30 a.m. Police have not announced any arrests in the shooting.

“Brianna Bennett, a close friend of Jenkins, was the first to speak at the vigil. She noted that Jenkins was killed by the very violence the young reporter had sought to end.

“ ‘She was fighting the violence we have in our community. Maybe we can help finish what she could not finish,’ Bennett said. ‘It starts with the community. There are a lot of you here, and that is enough to start something.’

“Tiff Crawford, for whom Jenkins had babysat, said she had taken Jenkins to lunch on Wednesday. The pair talked for two hours about Jenkins’ aspirations.

“ ‘She told me how she loved being a journalist because she served her community,’ Crawford said, her voice shaking as tears fell down her cheeks. ‘Sierra would want us to take care of each other, not just us, but the whole city. We have got to come together and stop this violence.’ . . .”

Kim O’Brien Root added Monday for the Pilot, “Jenkins’ last story was about a Hampton University program to take in students impacted by the war in Ukraine, reflecting her passion for telling the stories of students. That story will run in Tuesday’s newspaper.”

Root wrote that “The affable young reporter’s death sent shock waves through the journalism community, eliciting messages of sympathy from news organizations around the country. . . .”

The Education Writers Association said Monday that Jenkins was a 2022 member of EWA’s New to the Beat program, which matches newer education journalists with veteran reporters who serve as mentors and coaches.

“Her program mentor, Lori Higgins of Chalkbeat, beautifully summed up what so many of us felt after having the chance to spend time with Jenkins at our New to the Beat workshop in Washington, D.C., just a few weeks ago: ‘After one meeting with her, I walked away feeling rejuvenated. She was so enthusiastic and had such a drive for journalism and this beat.’ ”

Dorothy Tucker, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said in a statement, “The NABJ family is wrapping our arms around Sierra’s family, friends and colleagues. This is a tragic loss of a blossoming reporter with a beautiful spirit who had already begun to make her mark in the industry. We are saddened that such a horrific act ended her life and career too soon.”

Customers at Charnice Milton Community Bookstore in Southeast Washington. “If we want to be tough on crime, we have to get tough on literacy,” said Kymone Freeman, co-founder of We Act Radio. Freeman spearheaded the effort to transform the formerly drab space into the only bookstore east of the Anacostia River, an area that includes many of the District of Columbia’s poorest neighborhoods. (Credit: Charnice Milton Community Bookstore)

7 Years Later, Slaying of D.C. Reporter Still Unsolved

As Norfolk, Va., police seek to resolve the killing of reporter Sierra Jenkins, the fatal shooting of a second victim and the wounding of three others, the slaying of a journalist nearly seven years ago in the District of Columbia remains unsolved.

“The case is under investigation. There are no new updates; there have been no arrests,” a D.C. police spokesperson told Journal-isms on Monday. She was describing the case of Charnice Milton (pictured, below), a 27-year-old reporter for the Capital Community News who was gunned down as she returned home from reporting on a community meeting.

It was shortly after 9:28 p.m. on May 27, 2015. Milton was waiting for a bus. Police said two dirt-bike groups were exchanging gunfire. Milton’s stepfather, Kenneth McClenton, said the intended target used his daughter as a human shield to save himself.

The case generated news then and on subsequent anniversaries. The New York Times and the New Yorker covered it. Milton’s alma mater, Syracuse University, established the Charnice Milton Award for Community Journalism for “a journalism graduate student committed to community journalism.”

. Failure to close the case has fed speculation calling it another example of community members declining to “snitch.”

“Many believe dozens of people know who committed this murder, they just haven’t come forward, and that has angered community activists,” WJLA-TV reporter Sam Ford told viewers on the first anniversary of the killing.

” ‘It is a shame in this community that we have so many people shielding these murderers; these black lives matter too,’ Phil Pannell said.”

McClenton told Journal-isms Monday that he understood what Jenkins’ family must be going through. “We know what we feel at 2’clock in the morning and know that she’s not there. This is a great time of sorrow for us.”

But McClenton, who describes himself as an “urban conservative” and hosts an Internet show that every Friday urges those with information to come forward, places the failure to solve the crime in four places: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, for failure to put enough resources in the police department, the D.C. Council for not making crime enough of a priority; the community, where many believe the police are “against them”; and the media, which he says abide by the mantra “If it bleeds it leads,” even if it is nonprofit media. McClenton calls the combination a “volatile cocktail.”

Andrew Lightman, managing editor of the Capital Community News and publisher of the D.C. community newspapers Hill Rag, East of the River and MidCity DC, said he routinely runs a “Wanted” ad seeking Charnice Milton’s killer.

Milton’s editor and mentor, Andrew Lightman, told Journal-isms that she was “one of the hardest working reporters I ever worked with. She made friends all over the city.”

In 2017, on the second anniversary of the killing, We Act Radio, a media outlet based in Anacostia, often called a “forgotten” part of D.C., announced it had begun collecting books for a project called Bookapalooza. The effort resulted in a bookstore named after Milton.

“Had that been a book in that young man or female’s hand, the outcome would have been different,” said Kevin Bell, founder of the program Books and Breakfast, at the press conference. He was referring to Milton’s killer, Christina Sturdivant reported then for DCist.

“If we want to be tough on crime, we have to get tough on literacy,” said Kymone Freeman, co-founder of We Act Radio.

Sturdivant’s piece continued, “Studies have also shown that adults who read at lowest levels of functional literacy are most likely to live in Wards 5, 7, and 8 —- with nearly half of them residing east of the Anacostia River. These adults struggle to do things like fill out job applications, read to their children, or decipher a medical prescription. . . .”

The Metropolitan Police Department said Monday in response to a query, “This case remains open and is under active investigation. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call us at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.

“The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for each homicide committed in the District of Columbia.”

[March 23 update: The Metropolitan Police Department responded to a request for the number of open homicide cases over the past 10 years:

“2022: 29 Open Cases

“2021: 116 Open Cases

“2020: 76 Open Cases

“2019: 80 Open Cases

“2018: 63 Open Cases

“2017: 48 Open Cases

“2016: 57 Open Cases

“2015: 64 Open Cases

“2014: 39 Open Cases

“2013: 33 Open Cases

“2012: 31 Open Cases” ]

Stray Bullet Kills Va. Reporter, 25

March 19, 2022

Sierra Jenkins Was Leaving Norfolk Bar

Homepage photo: Creative Action Network poster design by Lyla Paakkanen

Site of Saturday’s early morning fatal shooting on Granby Street in Norfolk, Va. (Credit: Norfolk Police Department)

Sierra Jenkins Was Leaving Norfolk Bar

‘Two people were killed and three others injured during an early morning shooting Saturday outside a downtown Norfolk restaurant and bar,” (check for latest version) Jane Harper reported Saturday for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. “Among the dead was 25-year-old Virginian-Pilot reporter Sierra Jenkins, who was caught in the gunfire.

“The incident happened shortly before 2 a.m. outside Chicho’s Pizza Backstage, a popular restaurant and bar on Granby Street adjacent to Tidewater Community College’s downtown Norfolk campus.

“Manager Rory Schindel said bartenders had announced last call for drinks and turned up the lights at about 1:30 a.m. Customers were starting to leave the business when an argument began outside. Soon afterward, shots rang out.

“Jenkins (pictured) was leaving the bar when she got caught in the gunfire, Schindel said. She was rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she later died.

“Portsmouth resident Devon M. Harris, also 25, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. Three other men were wounded, including one who suffered life-threatening injuries.

“Police have not announced any arrests in the shooting.

“Jenkins’ father, Maurice Jenkins of Virginia Beach, described his daughter as a sweet, caring and hard-working young woman who loved being a journalist. She just turned 25 on March 13 and was the oldest of three siblings.

“Jenkins grew up in Norfolk and graduated from Granby High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Georgia State University in December 2019 and worked as an intern at Atlanta Magazine and CNN before joining The Pilot in December 2020. She just got her first apartment in Virginia Beach about a month ago after living with family, her father said.

“ ‘She wasn’t much of a going-out kind of person at all,’ Maurice Jenkins said. ‘But she had a friend visiting from out of town who wanted to go out.’

“The two had been friends since middle school and Jenkins was godmother to her friend’s daughter.

“Jenkins initially was hired by The Pilot to cover breaking news and later became an education reporter. She was scheduled to work a shift on the day she died. When editors were unable to reach her early that morning to have her to cover the shooting, they asked another reporter to fill in for her. A short time later, they learned Jenkins was among those killed. . . .”

Samantha-Jo Roth and David Mendez reported in January for Spectrum News, “The last two years have seen record-breaking numbers of gun deaths in the U.S. according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2020, more than 45,000 people died of gunshot wounds — up 14 percent from 2019, the previous high water mark for gun violence.

“Last year saw another record broken. According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 20,000 homicides were caused by guns in 2021, the most since the non-profit began tracking shootings eight years ago.”

Updating March 20:

Gillian Brockell added for The Washington Post:

“Jane Harper, a colleague of Jenkins’s, said on Twitter that Jenkins was scheduled to work Saturday, and Harper was asked to fill in when editors couldn’t reach Jenkins. She soon ‘found out why,’ she said, and ended up writing the story about her co-worker’s death.

“In a phone interview with The Washington Post, her editor, Brian Root, said Jenkins believed passionately in journalism. She also really wanted to make a difference in her community and with her new beat, where she was covering new Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s plans for Virginia schools, student learning loss during the pandemic and big changes at local colleges.

“ ‘I have been very fortunate in my career that I’ve worked with several people who went on to become rock stars in our business, so I know them when I see them, and Sierra was on the way to becoming a rock star,’ Root said. ‘It’s all about willingness and work ethic, and good god, she had that. And it hurts to talk about her in the past tense.’

“Police said anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip through the mobile app P3Tips.”

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms+owner@groups.io

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