Mother Welcomes Son for Dinner Before Tragic Fatality Amid Dispute Over Silver Coins, Authorities Report

In a chilling incident in Wisconsin, authorities have charged a man with the brutal murder of his mother, a crime allegedly spurred by a dispute over silver coins. Hayward Jenkins, aged 38, is accused of using a wooden baseball bat to kill his 66-year-old mother, Cheryl Jenkins, after arriving at her home late at night seeking food and a place to stay.

According to the police, the tragic event unfolded on the morning of February 24th, in an apartment complex located on the 1700 block of S. 44th Street in West Milwaukee. Officers responded to a call around 8 a.m., reporting an injured woman. Upon arrival, they discovered Cheryl Jenkins lying facedown, the baseball bat resting ominously on top of her. She bore a significant wound to the back of her head and other injuries, leading paramedics to pronounce her dead at the scene. An autopsy later confirmed her cause of death as blunt force trauma.

The night before the horrific incident, Cheryl Jenkins’ fiancé recounted that her son had come to their home, knocking on the window around 9 or 10 p.m. She welcomed him inside, providing him with a meal and a place to stay in the guest room. The peaceful visit took a devastating turn just hours later.

Around 4 a.m., the fiancé was stirred by an unusual noise. Despite his concerns, he found nothing amiss at the time and assumed the disturbance originated from the neighbors upstairs. Believing Cheryl was conversing with her son in the guest room, he returned to bed. It wasn’t until he awoke at 7:30 a.m. and attempted to call his fiancée that the grim reality came to light.

The fiance said he heard a noise around 4 a.m. and got out of bed to go check it out but didn’t see anything, thinking it may have come from the upstairs neighbors. He believed Cheryl Jenkins was in the guest room talking with her son. He went back to bed and woke up around 7:30 a.m. and called his fiancee.

After receiving no answer, he tried to open the door to the guest room but it was locked. He entered the room through a bathroom and found her unresponsive on the floor. He called 911. Hayward Jenkins was nowhere to be found.

Surveillance footage from the complex showed a man matching the suspect’s description running between apartments toward a bus stop. He hopped on the bus shortly after 6 a.m., per police.

Later that day, family members alerted cops that the suspect was at Potawatomi Casino. Officers found him at the casino and arrested him.

After receiving his Miranda rights, Hayward Jenkins allegedly admitted to killing his mother, saying they got into an argument over silver coins, money and “her not listening when he was trying to express himself.”

“The defendant stated that his mom blew off his concerns and kept coming in his face,” the complaint stated.

He claimed she came at him with a pair of scissors “like she was going to do something,” cops said. He said he “became angry with the situation and flipped out,” per cops. The defendant started beating his mom with the bat as she sat in a chair, officers wrote. He allegedly admitted that “he was wrong for murdering my mother.”

Hayward Jenkins was arrested and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail where he remains on a $300,000 bond, local Fox affiliate WITI reported. His next court date is set for March 10.