UPDATE: Jasmine Benjamin’s parents told CBS Atlanta that they first heard about their daughter’s death through a Facebook post. Judith Jackson and Jasmine’s stepfather James Jackson have criticized her university since, saying that it never told them about her death — or her possible murder.
CBS Atlanta reports that authorities say Benjamin could have been deceased for up to 15 hours before she was discovered in a dorm’s shared, common study room. Police suspect foul play.
“That’s the most disturbing part of it. Aren’t there RAs?” Jackson told CBS. “What kind of school is this that they don’t know someone’s laying on the couch – to go check on them after a certain amount of hours?”
PREVIOUSLY:
More than a week has passed since a freshman at Valdosta State University was killed in a homicide, but police have yet to offer much information about the crime or the possible culprit.
Student Jasmine Benjamin, 17, was found dead around noon on Nov. 18 in a study room in Georgia Hall, on campus, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Benjamin’s parents, mother Judith Brogdon and stepfather James Jackson, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they were initially told their daughter died of natural causes. But within 24 hours, police said her death was being investigated as a homicide due to information from the medical examiner’s autopsy.
“To find out it was a homicide and that somebody actually murdered our daughter changed everything,” Jackson told the paper. “It was like hearing the news all over again.”
Investigators cautioned that it will be a few weeks before they get the complete autopsy results and can confirm Benjamin’s death was in fact a murder, the Associated Press reported. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are both now involved in the case.
According to the Lowndes County coroner, Bill Watson, when Benjamin’s body was discovered, she had been dead for 12 to 15 hours. Police aren’t releasing many details of the timeline leading up to her death, but Benjamin’s friends said they last saw her on the night of Nov. 16. Since many students were away last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, the AP reports there has been a bit of a delay in gathering information related to the case.
Benjamin’s parents said they’re disturbed that no one has come forward yet to offer any explanation of what happened.
“It hurts, angry because you just don’t know,” Jackson told WSB. “The questions that you have, who, what, when, and why and how? All that’s not answered and you’re trying to have a funeral.”
Brian Childress, an investigator with the Valdosta Police Department, said police have served several search warrants in connection with the case.
“I don’t want to comment on what they were for or where they were at,” Childress told WCTV. “I can just tell you I want the public to know that you’ve got GBI agents, detectives and officers and they’re out there right now and we’re not stopping.”
via HuffingtonPost
