ROCKFORD, IL – An Illinois man, Timothy Carter, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the untimely death of an 18-year-old Walmart employee. The murder suspect claims that he was denied mental health treatment by two healthcare facilities in Rockford. The police noted that Carter had no prior connection to the victim, Jason Jenkins.
Responding to a call around 6 p.m. on Sunday, officers discovered Jenkins at the Walmart at 3849 Northridge Dr. with a serious stab wound in his back. Despite undergoing surgery at a local hospital, Jenkins succumbed to his injuries, reported the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office on Monday.
Carter, hailing from Cabery, asserted that he first sought mental health care at Rosecrance, a mental health treatment center. According to court documents, Carter said that he had originally been refused treatment at Rosecrance, and later threatened self-harm, resulting in his transfer to UW Health SwedishAmerican Hospital. Carter claimed that he had been released without receiving appropriate mental health treatment.
Surveillance footage from Walmart reportedly showed Carter picking up two knives, a kitchen knife, and a hunting knife, and behaving suspiciously around African-American shoppers. An employee told police of hearing Carter use a racial slur and Jenkins screaming for help.
Currently detained at the Winnebago County Jail, Carter faces a potential denial of pretrial release after prosecutors filed a petition. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday.
Rosecrance has since released a statement expressing shock at the incident and explained that it sometimes refers individuals who pose an acute risk to themselves or others to a higher level of care. Similarly, while UW Health refrained from commenting on individual patients, it provided a statement revealing its standard procedure for screening patients visiting the emergency department for self-harm or harm to others.