Attorney: List of defendants in fatal Rockford Walmart stabbing lawsuit likely to grow
A lawsuit was filed April 11 on behalf of the family of a deceased Walmart employee and listed three defendants — Walmart, security firm Brosnan Risk Consultants, and Timothy Carter, the man who allegedly stabbed Jason Jenkins to death at the Rockford store.
Rockford-based Rosecrance and UW Health's SwedishAmerican Hospital — the places Carter said he tried to receive mental health treatment hours before the March 24 attack — were not named in the suit.
That could change in the coming weeks.
"More likely than not, we will be bringing a lawsuit against Rosecrance and the hospital for turning him away when it was clear this was a person who needed help," said attorney Jack Casciato of Curcio & Casciato Law Offices, who is representing the family along with Mohammad Owaynat of Owaynat Law Group.
Casciato said the family's lawyers are not yet in posession of Carter's medical and mental health records but plan to obtain those records in the early stages of their investigation.
Carter, 28, of Cabery, Illinois, was arrested the evening of March 24 at the Walmart store on Northridge Drive in Rockford. He's accused of stabbing 18-year-old Jason Jenkins in the back while Jenkins was working in the store. Jenkins died later that night at a Rockford hospital.
Jenkin's mother, Nila Jenkins, said Walmart failed to protect her son.
"They didn't protect my baby," she said. "You have security there, and you didn't protect him. You didn't protect other peoples' babies. My child was not the only one in there working."
She also questioned why the knifes in the store were not more secure.
"You got your underwear locked up, but not your knives," she said.
Nila Jenkins said her son worked at the store for over a year as a stocker and was looking forward to his high school prom.
"He was picking out his colors," she said. "He liked lavender."
Chris Green is a Rockford Register Star general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email cgreen@rrstar.com and X @chrisfgreen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford Walmart stabbing lawsuit could soon see more defendants
