ST. LOUIS — Newly-obtained video shows a murder suspect wheeling a woman's body out of her St. Louis apartment. And as the suspect, David Harvey, prepares for his criminal trial, the woman's family has filed a civil lawsuit.
David Harvey is charged with the murder of Carolyn Jenkins. Jenkins, 63, lived at the Metropolitan Village Apartments since 2020. In 2022, her body was found yards away from the apartment complex.
Jenkins' daughter, Carla Smith, and son, Claude Lacy Jr., are suing the apartment complex, Sansone Group, which is the company that manages the complex, and Anthony's Empire Security, which provides security at the complex.
"She was a beautiful spirit. My mother was the life of the party, always laughing, always dancing, always having a good time. We are broken without her. Our family is broken. This has been a horrible, horrible tragedy," Smith said.
According to the lawsuit, prior to June 2022, Jenkins was involved in a relationship with Harvey. Smith said they were neighbors.
After the relationship ended, the lawsuit claims Jenkins was repeatedly harassed by Harvey. The harassment included illegally entering her apartment, going through her personal items and accessing her apartment with a key obtained from management.
Smith said her mom complained to management at Metropolitan Village Apartments multiple times about the repeated harassment and break-ins. She said her mom even called police and changed the locks on her apartment.
The lawsuit said there are video cameras in the hallways documenting all of the alleged criminal activity.
According to the lawsuit and a probable cause statement, Harvey entered Jenkins' unit and murdered her. John Day, who worked at the apartment complex, then helped Harvey move her body.
"She had gone down to get her mail and the murderer followed her back up to her apartment and killed her there. Our private autopsy revealed that she was stabbed seven times," Smith said.
Police initially responded to Jenkins' apartment for a wellness check only to find her apartment in disarray and a small pool of blood on the apartment floor.
A police detective working on the case said a review of the surveillance footage showed Harvey follow Smith to her apartment door and rush inside behind her before closing the door.
Several minutes passed before Harvey left Smith's apartment and locked the door behind him.
At about 2 a.m., Harvey and Day re-entered the apartment, loaded Jenkins' body onto a dolly and wheeled it outside.
Prosecutors recently showed the family the footage, which shows a man wheeling a cart onto an elevator and past an Anthony's Empire Security employee.
As the family watched the video, they said they noticed her blanket wrapped around her and her foot sticking out.
The lawsuit said despite seeing this on video, Anthony's Empire Security failed to investigate the safety of Jenkins.
"Nothing was done to safeguard my mother and prevent this from happening. So many different systems failed us," Smith said. "Everyone needs to be held accountable for the negligence."
Not only does the family blame the security team for not doing more, but they also point fingers at the apartment complex and managing team.
Since Metropolitan Village Apartments and Sansone Group receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, they are authorized to screen applicants and prohibit admission if illegal drug use or violent crimes are happening.
The lawsuit explained under the regulations, the companies are authorized to evict or terminate tenants for various criminal activities that threaten the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents.
The lawsuit said Harvey lived at Metropolitan Village Apartments since 2001 and pointed to a list of Harvey's criminal history, including a 2015 acquittal in the killing of a pregnant woman.
Harvey lived at the apartment complex at that time.
Harvey has previous convictions dating back to the 1980s, ranging from assault, drug possession and unlawful use of a weapon.
Jenkins' family is asking a jury trial for the civil suit and at least $25,000 from each party for negligence.
As for the criminal case, Harvey goes to trial on March 18. The parties believe the case will require four days of trial. Day's trial is pending.
"He should never walk the street again. We want to make sure that he does not get the opportunity to see freedom again in this lifetime," Smith said.
5 On Your Side reached out to the parties named in the lawsuit and has not heard back from them.
"This entire situation is a tragedy–an avoidable tragedy," Smith and Lacy's attorney, David Grebel said. "Had HUD safety regulations been followed this dangerous individual never would have had the chance to cause harm to Ms. Jenkins. We can only hope Ms. Jenkins’ tragic death serves as a wakeup call to this and other landlords to take appropriate steps to protect their tenants from known dangerous individuals."