Investigators say video, witness statements and a confession trace the hours before and after Cheryl Jenkins was killed.
WEST MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Prosecutors in Milwaukee County say the case against Hayward Jenkins rests on a short chain of overnight events, beginning with his arrival at his mother’s home late Feb. 23 and ending with his arrest at Potawatomi Casino shortly after noon the next day.
The charge is first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Cheryl Jenkins, 66, who was found dead Feb. 24 in a guest room at a home on South 44th Street. What stands out in the case file is how investigators stitched together the hours in between: a witness hearing a noise before dawn, video showing a man run toward a bus stop, medical findings that documented repeated blows, and a statement in which Jenkins admitted he killed his mother after an argument over silver coins and money.
The complaint says Jenkins arrived around 9 to 10 p.m. and was allowed to stay in the guest room after Cheryl Jenkins got him food. Her fiancé later told police he fell asleep between 10 and 10:30 p.m. after taking medication. Around 4 to 4:30 a.m., he said, a noise woke him. He checked the living room, thought it may have come from upstairs neighbors and went back to sleep. He also told police Cheryl Jenkins was not in bed at that point and he assumed she was with her son in the guest room. That part of the timeline matters because it places both of them near the room hours before police were called.
The complaint then moves to the morning. The fiancé said he woke at about 7:30 a.m. and called Cheryl Jenkins on the phone. When she did not answer, he knocked on the guest-room door, checked whether the car was gone, then returned and found the door locked. He entered through the bathroom and found her on the ground, cold to the touch, according to the complaint. Officers were dispatched at 8:07 a.m. and reported seeing Cheryl Jenkins lying face down with a bat on top of her. They also described blood on the barrel, a large wound to the back of her head, and blood on the face, right hand and forearm. Police said the room looked different from the day before, with clutter, a broken bed frame and blood spatter on the back of the door and the lower east wall.
Investigators next followed the route away from the home. Officers canvassed the area and recovered video clips that showed a person in dark clothing running between apartment buildings in the 1700 block of Miller Park Way. The same person was then seen heading to the bus stop at Miller Park Way and West Mitchell Street and boarding a Milwaukee County Transit System bus at about 6:07 a.m., police said. Officers later reviewed bus video and said it showed the defendant’s face and clothing clearly enough to compare with the person leaving the area. Family members later told police Jenkins might be at Potawatomi Casino, and officers arrested him there at about 12:33 p.m.
The medical evidence added detail to what officers found at the scene. Dr. Lauren Decker, who conducted the autopsy, listed blunt-force injuries that included abrasions and contusions to the face, lacerations to the scalp, skull fractures, subarachnoid hemorrhage, a temporal laceration and additional injuries to the arms and legs. Prosecutors said the cause of death was blunt-force injuries. The complaint does not say whether investigators recovered scissors from the room, and it does not say whether any forensic testing had been completed on the bat by the time charges were filed. Those gaps leave some questions unanswered, even as the broad timeline presented by police appears tightly drawn.
After his arrest, Jenkins waived his rights and gave a statement, the complaint says. He told investigators he and his mother argued over silver coins, money and “her not listening when he was trying to express himself.” He said she “blew off” his concerns and came into his face. He also claimed she had scissors in her hand and looked as though she might do something to him. According to prosecutors, Jenkins then said he got the baseball bat, struck his mother several times in the head while she sat in a chair and later admitted he was “wrong for murdering my mother.” He appeared in court March 1, and local reports said bond was set at $300,000. A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for March 10.
Author note: Last updated March 30, 2026.