Illinois corrections officer Bradley Jenkins accused of assaulting his new wife, Allissa Martin after the woman plunged to her 7th story death from St. Louis parking garage.
An Illinois corrections officer has been accused of assaulting his new wife after the woman was found dead outside a downtown St. Louis parking garage.
Bradley Jenkins, 30, of Taylorville, was charged with third-degree domestic assault Monday in connection with the death of Allissa Martin, 27, whose deceased body was found in the early hours of Sunday morning. Jenkins was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 cash bail, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Police responding to a 911 call reporting a fall found Martin’s body outside the garage near Busch Stadium shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. Court documents cited by the Post-Dispatch stated that Jenkins was ‘agitated and appeared to be intoxicated’ when officers found him ‘straddling’ Martin’s body. The man was covered in blood.
According to arresting documents, Jenkins told investigators that he and Martin — also an Illinois corrections officer — had attended Saturday’s baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs with some co-workers the riverfronttimes reported.
Jenkins said that the couple had argued during the game, with the newly married man denying that the pair had a physical confrontation. The husband was also initially claimed never having been on the parking garage rooftop from where Allissa Martin is believed to have fallen from.
Alissa Martin’s cellphone video punctures holes in her husband’s claims:
Authorities say police found Martin’s cellphone on the seventh floor of the garage with the video camera recording. When officers reviewed footage shot on the phone, they saw Martin ‘pointing the camera toward herself,’ according to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Mark West. ‘She then turned the camera toward this defendant and he was shown on camera. They were arguing.’
Court documents say Martin could be heard on the recording yelling at Jenkins to stop punching her in the face before dropping the phone. A short time later, investigators say, a scream can be heard on the recording followed by the sound of the woman hitting the ground.
Jenkins told police that he and Martin were married on May 22 in Las Vegas, prosecutors say.
An Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman told the Post-Dispatch that Jenkins had worked for the agency since June 2010, while Martin had worked there since March 2017.
Police say they have ordered an autopsy and are determining whether Jenkins should be charged with murder.
