ATLANTA — Family, friends and colleagues were left devastated in 2018 when Atlanta charity worker Beverly Jenkins - a woman described by her loved ones as an advocate for peace - was murdered in a random carjacking.
A beloved employee at City of Refuge, a faith-based Atlanta charity that works to uplift the struggling Westside community, she had only a 10-minute drive from the office to her home.
Just after midnight on Aug. 12 that year, she was sitting at a stoplight on the way home in her minivan - a gift from the non-profit so she wouldn't have to rely on public transit - at the intersection of Westview Drive and Hopkins Street. As she sat there, two teenagers attempted to carjack her and, when she tried to drive away, one of them shot at the car.
Jenkins, a 49-year-old mother of five and grandmother of four, was struck in the head and killed.
She was remembered as a "tremendous blessing to all" who "left a lasting impression on so many lives, both resident and staff."
On Thursday, almost a year-and-a-half to the day after her killing, those two teenagers pleaded guilty and were both sentenced to life in prison.
The Fulton County District Attorney's office announced the pleas on Friday. The DA's office said 19-year-old Khalid Bays and 18-year-old Adarius Jones had each pleaded guilty to a slew of chages.
They included murder, felony murder, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, armed robbery, and aggravated robbery.
Bays was given an additional 15 years on top of the life sentence, and Jones was given five extra years.
Jenkins' death back in 2018 left coworkers reeling.
"I got a call Sunday morning, and they told me that Beverly has been shot overnight," Pastor Bruce Deel, City of Refuge's founder, told 11Alive at the time. "And we were all just stunned."
She was, 11Alive's Ron Jones reported then, seen by those close to her as an "angel."
MORE HEADLINES