James T. Jenkins

How they died

Suicide

James T. Jenkins reportedly shot himself inside his fiancee's home while federal agents were outside the front door. Jenkins was a Camp Pendleton Marine who had reportedly gone AWOL and was suspected of armed robbery, theft, carjacking, kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. Investigators tracked Jenkins to the Oceanside apartment after officials said a San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputy and a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent assigned to the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force recognized him from a wanted poster. At about 8:30 a.m., police knocked on the door. Jenkins reportedly pushed his fiancee into a bedroom, shut the door and shot himself in the head. Declaring Jenkins a deserter, the Marine Corps had initially denied his mother death benefits. The decision was later overturned by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which found Jenkins' erratic behavior and suicide were caused by untreated PTSD. In a report, investigator Thomas Ferguson called Jenkins a "salvageable" Marine who deserved better from the Corps.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that James T. Jenkins, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources