NewsPalm Beach CountyRegion C Palm Beach County

Actions

Suspect charged in suburban Lake Worth mother's June death

Posted 12:02 AM, Sep 04, 2017
and last updated 12:21 AM, Sep 04, 2017

A bond hearing was delayed Sunday for a man charged in the June shooting death of a suburban Lake Worth mother.

Joevan Joseph, 19, of West Palm Beach was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Makeva Jenkins.

The hearing was delayed Sunday because of a conflict in the public defender's office and Jenkins' family.  A full bond hearing will now be held on Tuesday.

Loading video...

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office had said that a masked gunman knocked on Jenkins' door just after 2 a.m. on June 29 and entered her Plumbago Place home.

Deputies have not said if their was a connection between Jenkins and Joseph.

Family Thankful For Arrest

“We’re feeling much better because I know this will help us to know that she’ll be resting in peace because we feel like justice is being done," said Gloria Willis Harold, Jenkins' grandmother.

Harold got the call Saturday about Joseph's arrest while on her way to Orlando to spend Labor Day weekend with family. She said Jenkins planned the family trip a few months ago, but now, she can't be there.

“I miss everything about her. The conversations with her," Harold said. "She just was the kind of person we would never want to go on living without her.”

Harold said the family can finally move toward closure though.

“I am so glad this thing is coming to an end," she said.

The family put out a plea for tips at the beginning of August. Harold said she's not sure if this arrest was the result of that, but either way, she's relieved.

"When this person took her life, he didn’t only take hers. He took our whole family’s," she said.

People who live in Jenkins' neighborhood, where the shooting happened, said they are also thankful an arrest has been made.

“When I read the reports and it said that someone had finally been arrested, I guess there was a little sense of ease," said a neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. "I was like, 'It’s about time someone finally got arrested for this.'”

That neighbor said she hopes Joseph's arrest will reveal more information about the case.

"I think it was something a little bit more in depth to the story and I think that eventually it’s all going to trickle down," she said.