On an summer evening in a Hyattsville, Maryland park, the life of 21-year-old Julia Fils-Aime was tragically cut short. On August 1, 2007, while walking with her boyfriend, Von Kelley, they were confronted by a man who intended to rob them. As the couple complied with the assailant's demands, he opened fire, wounding Kelley and fatally shooting Fils-Aime.
The investigation into the senseless act of violence led police to identify Kenneth Billow Jenkins, III as the gunman.
It was revealed that the meeting in Chillum Park was arranged under the pretense of a marijuana sale. Kelley, who survived the attack, later identified Jenkins as the man who shot him and his girlfriend. Another individual, Dernaldo McGee, was also apprehended in connection to the crime after his cell phone records linked him to Kelley in the moments before the shooting.
In October 2008, a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County found Kenneth Billow Jenkins, III guilty of first-degree felony murder, attempted second-degree murder, and other related charges. For his crimes, he received a sentence of life in prison plus an additional twenty years. Years later, in July 2015, Jenkins sought a new trial by filing a Petition for Writ of Actual Innocence, claiming new evidence had been discovered. However, the court ultimately denied his petition, upholding the original conviction and sentence.
