New Legal Trouble for a Father Still Mourning His Son

North Carolina dad Sameule Jenkins is due back in court this month on charges stemming from the downstream impact of his arrest after the tragic death of his son. 

Sameule Jenkins and his wife, Jessica Ivey Jenkins, let their 10- and 7-year-old sons walk a few blocks to and from the grocery store in Gastonia, North Carolina, last spring. Jenkins stayed on his phone with his 10-year-old the whole way to ensure they were safe. The last words he heard were, “Legend, no!”

His 7-year-old son Legend ran into the road and was hit by a car. He died that night. 

Legend’s parents were thrown in jail and charged with involuntary manslaughter and child neglect, with bail set at $1.5 million each. They were still behind bars as their son was about to be laid to rest. 

“When I asked the correction officer if there was a way I could talk to the chaplain about attending my son’s funeral, he laughed and said, ‘Good luck!'” Sameule Jenkins said in a phone call. 

But Gastonia City Councilwoman Cheryl Littlejohn heard of their case and got a judge to let them out just before the casket was closed. The funeral was over by the time they arrived, but Jenkins says, “We got to kiss our son goodbye.” Then they were taken back to jail.

The couple spent three weeks behind bars before being “graciously”—in the words of a Gaston County assistant district attorney—offered a deal to plead guilty to felony child neglect and be released on parole (2.5 years for Jessica Ivey Jenkins and 3 years for Sameule Jenkins). The deal included mandatory parenting classes, twice-a-month drug tests for both of them, and a 6 p.m. curfew and ankle monitor for Sameule Jenkins. 

Three weeks after his son’s death, Sameule Jenkins tested positive for cocaine and marijuana. “I was just trying to cope—to feel numb,” he says. “But since then I have not failed a drug test.” 

Sameule Jenkins is now living in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an Oxford House, where men pledge to sobriety. He is no longer allowed to live with his wife because he was not on the lease with his wife, and once his case came to light, she received a letter saying he had to leave or she and the children would be evicted. 

They’re now living an hour away from each other. “We Facetime each other every night,” says Sameule Jenkins. “I hear her snoring, and she hears me.”

Sameule Jenkins was also accused of removing his ankle monitor and ignoring law enforcement calls. As the monitor was still on his leg when police arrived to arrest him, the charge was updated to a violation of failing to keep the monitor charged and tampering with the strap. He spent eight days in jail and was given a second monitor to wear on his other ankle.

There is no reason a grieving father should be forced to wear a monitor in the first place. The felony charges led to a plea bargain, which led to the drug tests and ankle monitors—as if he might commit a crime again, if not closely watched.

But his “crime” wasn’t a crime at all. The authorities are treating a tragedy as a felony.

Thanks to the efforts of my nonprofit Let Grow and its allies across the political spectrum, 11 states now have a “Reasonable Childhood Independence” law. This law, not yet passed in North Carolina, protects parents in making everyday decisions by clarifying that neglect is when they put their child in obvious, serious danger—not anytime they take their eyes off them. 

“The judgment that [Sameule] Jenkins was ‘reckless’ under its criminal law seems to be based on 20-20 hindsight and a desire to punish,” says Diane Redleaf, who has been leading Let Grow’s legislative advocacy. 

Legend’s death was heartbreaking. But if we criminalize all rational parenting actions that end in tragedy, we’d have to imprison any parent whose child died from climbing a tree, or falling down the stairs, or choking on a button. Those things happen, but not because of bad parenting. They happen because of bad luck. 

Until he had his first child, Sameule Jenkins says, “I was doing dumb stuff. It was a lifestyle of just being in the streets.” But once he became a dad, “I gave it all up,” he says. For the past three years, he has worked refurbishing wooden pallets. It’s a job he hopes to do again, but he knows his record might make employers leery. He also lived with his wife and kids. Now the kids are being cared for by relatives as part of an agreement with the Department of Social Services. The couple is allowed supervised visits.

And yet, Sameule Jenkins said, he feels grateful that “complete strangers are making calls, helping me get back on my feet, helping me out with bond money and my son’s memorial.” His wife set up an Angel Link to help pay for Legend’s funeral expenses.

Sameule Jenkins is also grateful for his current parole officer’s compassion. His wife is pregnant again, and Jenkins asked his parole officer if he could possibly go to the hospital if she goes into labor after his 6 p.m. curfew. The officer said yes.

“I’m blessed,” Jenkins says.