UPDATE: Thursday 5:30 p.m.
A judge has sentenced Jerome Jenkins to death in connection to the deadly Sunhouse robberies in 2015.
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CONWAY, SC (WBTW)- The penalty phase continued in court on Wednesday for 24-year-old Jerome Jenkins who was found guilty on Saturday of all charges in connection to the deadly Sunhouse robberies in 2015.
Jenkins potentially faces the death penalty.
On Tuesday, the state brought five correctional officers from the South Carolina Department of Corrections to testify about Jenkin’s threatening behavior in the maximum security facility where he was held while awaiting trial.
On Wednesday, the first witness the defense brought to the stand was Lonnice Grant, the mother of Jenkins’ child.
“I do know that he is caring and that he will do anything and everything for his family, he also made the comment, like I said, breaking the generational curse, if he said if it takes him for him to lose his life so his son doesn’t have to go through what he goes through, he would do it all again,” said Grant.
Next, Jenkins’ father Jerome Jenkins Senior was brought to the stand to talk about how he wasn’t able to be there for “JJ” all of his childhood because he himself was in prison for 22 years because of an armed robbery conviction.
“He would tell me he miss me, I would tell him son, I’m sorry I wasn’t there, when you’re not actually there to play a father, son, role model, it gets a lot worse,” said Jenkins.
Some of Jenkins’ former teachers with Horry County spoke about his childhood aspirations of wanting to rise above his rough background.
“He was likable, there was this little boy-ness about him, he would talk to me about his goals, and wanting out,” said Tennant.
The trial will continue on Thursday morning.
