The memory of Makeva Jenkins, a young pregnant mother whose life was brutally stolen while she slept in her Lantana-area home, remains at the center of a painful chapter in Palm Beach County.
In 2023, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of her husband, Euri Jenkins, who orchestrated her 2017 murder-for-hire in a bid to collect on an insurance policy.
Euri Jenkins, now 37, is serving a life sentence in state prison.
In 2022, prosecutors secured his conviction with the help of two men who admitted their roles in the conspiracy: one who arranged the killing and the other who pulled the trigger.
A Mother, A Future, A Life Cut Short
Makeva Jenkins was more than just a name in a courtroom. She was a woman preparing for motherhood, a voice silenced before her child ever took its first breath.
Friends and community members have remembered her as a woman of determination, ambition, and care — someone whose future was entwined with dreams now left unfulfilled.
Her death shocked the Palm Beach community, not only for its cold calculation but also for the intimate betrayal at its core: a husband who chose money over life, power over love.
The Appeal and Its Outcome
Euri Jenkins argued that his conviction rested on “inconsistent statements” from two witnesses — Dametri Dale and Joevan Joseph — both of whom admitted to lying in the early days of the investigation.
Dale testified that Jenkins asked him to find a hitman, while Joseph, the confessed gunman, told jurors Jenkins offered him $20,000 to carry out the killing.
Both men struck plea deals that reduced their sentences in exchange for testifying. Dale pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a weapon and received 15 years of probation, while Joseph pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Despite the defense’s claim that their testimony was unreliable, the appellate court found the evidence “substantial,” affirming that jurors had sufficient grounds to convict Jenkins.
Justice, Though Never Enough
While the ruling ensures Euri Jenkins’ life sentence remains intact, no legal outcome can restore the life of Makeva Jenkins or the future of the child she carried.
For those who loved her, the appellate decision is less about closure and more about ensuring accountability.
Her name, now etched into Palm Beach’s collective memory, serves as a solemn reminder of the fragile line between trust and betrayal — and of a life that deserved so much more.
