This is the story of my son, Devon Jenkins-Joshua. Today he passed away unexpectedly. He was 24 years old and the eldest of my two children. He was quiet, kind and affectionate. Due to social obstacles created by having eye gaze issues and speech delays he kept to himself pretty much. His one joy that he enjoyed was video gaming.
caption: Devon on Left, with one of his few friends in high school Mike.
When he graduated from Franklin High School in 2014, he deciding to pursue a Computer Simulation and Gaming Associate degree from the school of media and arts and a liberal arts degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Upon completing both those associate degrees, in the Fall 2018 he left home to began his final academic pursuit at the University of Stout here in Wisconsin. His goal was to receive a bachelor's degree with an emphasis in gaming design.
caption: Devon on left, maternal Grandma, Sister Graduation M.A.T.C.
Unfortunately, he never achieved that goal. When my husband and I reached out to him to confirm his travel arrangements to come home at the end of the semester in December we could not get a hold of him. We called, texted and emailed, no reply happened. We reached out to the resident hall reps where he was staying on campus, they posted a note on his door indicating we were trying to reach him. I contacted the Stout campus police thinking I was reaching out to the State of Minnesota police department. I asked them to perform a wellness check on my son because I was not getting a response from him.
Upon entering his room it looked like Devon had just been zapped into thin air. His personal computer, his school computer, his gaming console, his tv, and everything that was apart of Devon's persona was still in the room. My heart sank. For Devon to be without his technology was equivalent to taking a cell phone away from a teenager. It just does not happen!
We knew something was wrong, but did not know what. For two days I was in communication with the sergeant of the campus police while they checked the video footage of some access points into his dorm, they canvased the campus for his vehicle that had left it allocated parking spot when he himself was not comfortable driving it.
More alarms went off in our heads and hearts. On faith we made the one-way, four (4) plus hour trek to Stout because we knew he had been told previously that we would be there to pick him up and we were a family that never broke our promises. Upon arriving we went right to the sergeant in charge of the investigation. She was able to show us footage of him entering the dorm 2 nights previously, but not him exiting the dorm because of the lack of cameras on some of the doors.
The video was heart-retching. It was visually obvious that something was wrong with him. The way he walked in the building, the way his walking gate was different, and the way his eyes gazed all screamed something was off. Before we left the campus the sergeant finally indicated she would put out bulletin campus wide for him.
We sadly began our one-way, four (4) plus hour trek back to Franklin without Devon or any of his belongings because they want to secure the room as evidence and for investigation purposes. At my end's wits, I asked my sibling to put Devon's picture out on Facebook to get more eyes looking for Devon. Between that post that went viral and the direct post to WISN, channel 12 one of the local news broadcasters, on our way back home the sergeant called with less than 35 minutes left on our trip to indicate that Devon had been found.
He was not in Wisconsin anymore. On some level in his altered state he had driven the car to Minnesota and been arrested for trespassing and burglary. What he had in his possession when he was arrested for the first time in his life was the following:
1. His Stout id
2. His Credit card
3. His Driving license
4. The keys to the car
5. An watch that he had purchased on ebay
6. An backpack that he had used for school purchased from Sam's club
7. His High-school ring that was in one of the pockets of the packback with his name engraved on it
8. A car that had the license, registration and insurance in the glove compartment with my name on all of it.
9. Also, a pair of wire cutters that he had picked up outside on the farm/work property he was trespassing on.
Upon learning his whereabouts, being a family that leaves no family member behind, at the first ramp we could turn that car around and head back past stout and go further to Minnesota to get him we took it.
I started frantically calling the Jail. I asked them to confirm that indeed that they had Devon JJ in their possession because nothing that I was hearing sounded like him. I asked if he could go talk to him he said he was kind of out of it. I was simply confused. So, I asked the deputy to go and check the id against the face of the gentleman that they had in custody, I thought somebody had commandeered his car. He had never been to Minnesota before, he did not know anyone there, he did not like driving at all, let along highway driving. He had never even J-walked. He knew the difference between right and wrong. He knew how hard his dad and I had worked to provide opportunities for him and his sister. Above all that we had instilled in our children that when they ventured out into the world it was their responsibility to return the family name in the same condition that they had received it in. They not only represent themselves in the world, but all those that came before them and all those that would follow them.
This is why I knew something was drastically wrong with our son when the deputy confirmed that it was indeed him. We needed to get to him.
I stayed on the phone the whole way up attempting to find out how to post bond for him. This was new territory for everyone. I quickly found out that because I was not a local to the state the I could not bond him out. I had to find a bail bondman who was willing to come out there at that time and local to the state in order to retrieve my son that night.
I not only paid a customary 10%, but also had to sign that when the case was brought to a conclusion that I would be forfeiting that amount to the bailsman company. To embrace our son again when we thought he had met with foul play or negative choice I would have walked through hell.
When they let me in the dialog room I did not recognize the person that was in front of me. The person that I had known to be Devon Jenkins-Joshua was not in front of me. They had his face, his body, but not his personality or heart. The conversation they attempted to have with me was one that left me in a state of confusion. Places, people and activities were all being discussed in a confused swirl. He thought he was on his grandpa's land. Grandpa's land was not in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but Devon thought he had traveled to it. Grandpa has passed away prior to Devon being born, but for some reason he was fixated on Grandpa and his land.
The more I tried to correct his view point the more agitated he became. I exited the dialog room and picked up the other phone to speak with one of the jail representatives. I told them that something was wrong with my son, that I did not feel comfortable taking him out of there because I myself did not know the person that I was seeing. I could no longer stake my life on what he would or would not do. I inquired as to whether he had been seen my medical professionals since he had been in their establishment for two (2) days, apparently the day he went missing from the campus he was picked up the very same day.
I heard a resounding "No". I told her it was something wrong with him. She told me in the most human to fellow human voice that "this is not the place for him to receive the treatment he needed". I shut my mouth. Enough said, I read between the lines and heard the unspoken words. I needed to first get our son out of the establishment and then figure out what was wrong and then fix it.
He had been taken into the Wabasha County Jail in an altered state. To this date I still don't know why I was not contacted by the Jail. When I asked the Deputy, he told me that it was up to Devon to call me. I explained to him that something was not right with Devon so that it was impossible for him to communicate the necessary information to them and that it had been my hope if we found the car, which we did we would find Devon as well. Apparently, finding the car registered to a different person other than the person driving it, with a college id for the neighboring state was not enough to prompt them to make a phone call to the university or to me the owner of the vehicle until they saw his mia story being ran on television.
Devon was brought home, taken to the emergency room with his symptoms of altered state, confusion, change in personality, etc and was released they same way he went in, no diagnosis and no treatment.
I called hospital after hospital explaining Devon's symptoms and was told that there was a backlog queue to see the doctor's that specialized in the treatment that Devon so desperately needed. For six to eight weeks we never left Devon unattended. He quickly unraveled even further while we searched for somebody to see him now. He lost all his social norms like the need for clothing, the need for hygiene, the need to cleanup behind one's self. He was no longer interacting with anyone. Finally, I fumbled across a emergency room that had the specialist on staff that could see Devon immediately. We burnt rubber to get him there.
It was only then that we began to find out that Devon was in a age group that was prone for a emotional breakdown. I like to akin it to the Brittney Spears situation. The stresses of life, in Devon's case the stress of school without the usual academia support that he had always received from school due to the fact that Stout claimed they had a waiting list meant he was a fish thrown in pond with out any supports. The physical and emotional support that he would normally receive from his family as his biggest cheer leaders was also not available to him because he was four (4) plus hours away. The usual pep talks, hugs and tears were not there for him.
The stress broke him. He was diagnosed with frontal-lob seizures. This is the area of the brain that controls essentially "who you are", what you like or dislike, breathing, walking, talking the whole existence of you. This would explain the new, unimproved personality.
select diag and treatment tab
He started receiving meds to attempt to control the seizures that had altered him. Slowly but surely the essence of my son came back. He had fleeting memories of what had happened. He remembered going to the farm, he remembered attempting to turn on electricity at the box to attempt to plug in a slow-cooker he had located on the farm, but in his head he was on his grandpa's property. He did not remember the crushing question he had asked his dad which was "who are you?". He struggled with the side-effects of the meds that in the neurology office indicated what he was experiencing along the lines of parkinson's disease. Some days he could not get out of bed. Some days he could not remember conversations. Some days his body hurt so much he could not stand it. Independence had been within a year grasp of graduation for him. Now he was totally dependent on family and helpers to assist him. He struggled depression when he could not see how he could rebuild his life. I joked with him that he had been forced into a early retirement. While he struggled with his health issues we struggled to fight the charges against him.
We had secured an attorney to represent him. Many turned us down because they did not want to travel to Wabasha, Minnesota. It was almost 6 - months later, on June 7th that Devon's criminal case was dismissed due to the medical proof that he was in an altered state when it occurred. We have still not received his personal items back or a response to our request to have his record expunged.
Out of this situation we have been thankful for the following:
1. Our son was found alive in December of 2018.
2. That our son did not injury anybody when he was in his altered state
3. That we finally was able to get him medical treatment to restore Devon to the family even though it was a shadow of the Devon we had loved for 24 years.
4. To clear his criminal case so that he could remain in the arms of people that loved and cared for him instead of a system that would of chewed him up and spit him out as it grinded its wheels in an effort to deliver justice to the owner of the property he was on.
5. Finally, we are grateful that we were allowed a six-month extension of Devon's time on this earth to reconnect with him, to smother him with love and put him at peace.
So, when his brain misfired and he had a seizure this morning and collapsed we can only be thankful to Devon for enduring his sufferings as long as he did to allow the family to be emotionally capable for this next hurdle.
Of course, what we did not expect was our 24 year old to leave this earth. Hence, we have not prepared financially for such an event. This is why I have taken this opportunity to talk to you about Devon's choice.
He chose his friend that remained in his heart always.
He chose his discipline of study.
He chose his institution to attend.
He chose not to leave this earth in December 2018 when he had his first potential life-ending seizure.
He chose to give it his all and go on walks with family even though his body hurt.
He chose to open up his heart and soul and express himself though his eye gaze issues and speech delays
He chose to prepare us for his exiting of this world even though we did not recognize that at the time. (You know hind sight is 20/20).
Finally, he chose not to endure any more. He chose to go to the light.
We Luv you always
Devon (a.k.a. Booggie) Jenkins-Joshua
mom just wanted to put a voice to your struggle
caption: Devon took his last breath at Ascension Wheaton Franciscan in Franklin, WI on 27th the border of Franklin where he spent the majority of his life.
caption: Devon on Left, with one of his few friends in high school Mike.When he graduated from Franklin High School in 2014, he deciding to pursue a Computer Simulation and Gaming Associate degree from the school of media and arts and a liberal arts degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Upon completing both those associate degrees, in the Fall 2018 he left home to began his final academic pursuit at the University of Stout here in Wisconsin. His goal was to receive a bachelor's degree with an emphasis in gaming design.
caption: Devon on left, maternal Grandma, Sister Graduation M.A.T.C.Unfortunately, he never achieved that goal. When my husband and I reached out to him to confirm his travel arrangements to come home at the end of the semester in December we could not get a hold of him. We called, texted and emailed, no reply happened. We reached out to the resident hall reps where he was staying on campus, they posted a note on his door indicating we were trying to reach him. I contacted the Stout campus police thinking I was reaching out to the State of Minnesota police department. I asked them to perform a wellness check on my son because I was not getting a response from him.
Upon entering his room it looked like Devon had just been zapped into thin air. His personal computer, his school computer, his gaming console, his tv, and everything that was apart of Devon's persona was still in the room. My heart sank. For Devon to be without his technology was equivalent to taking a cell phone away from a teenager. It just does not happen!
We knew something was wrong, but did not know what. For two days I was in communication with the sergeant of the campus police while they checked the video footage of some access points into his dorm, they canvased the campus for his vehicle that had left it allocated parking spot when he himself was not comfortable driving it.
More alarms went off in our heads and hearts. On faith we made the one-way, four (4) plus hour trek to Stout because we knew he had been told previously that we would be there to pick him up and we were a family that never broke our promises. Upon arriving we went right to the sergeant in charge of the investigation. She was able to show us footage of him entering the dorm 2 nights previously, but not him exiting the dorm because of the lack of cameras on some of the doors.
The video was heart-retching. It was visually obvious that something was wrong with him. The way he walked in the building, the way his walking gate was different, and the way his eyes gazed all screamed something was off. Before we left the campus the sergeant finally indicated she would put out bulletin campus wide for him.
We sadly began our one-way, four (4) plus hour trek back to Franklin without Devon or any of his belongings because they want to secure the room as evidence and for investigation purposes. At my end's wits, I asked my sibling to put Devon's picture out on Facebook to get more eyes looking for Devon. Between that post that went viral and the direct post to WISN, channel 12 one of the local news broadcasters, on our way back home the sergeant called with less than 35 minutes left on our trip to indicate that Devon had been found.
He was not in Wisconsin anymore. On some level in his altered state he had driven the car to Minnesota and been arrested for trespassing and burglary. What he had in his possession when he was arrested for the first time in his life was the following:
1. His Stout id
2. His Credit card
3. His Driving license
4. The keys to the car
5. An watch that he had purchased on ebay
6. An backpack that he had used for school purchased from Sam's club
7. His High-school ring that was in one of the pockets of the packback with his name engraved on it
8. A car that had the license, registration and insurance in the glove compartment with my name on all of it.
9. Also, a pair of wire cutters that he had picked up outside on the farm/work property he was trespassing on.
Upon learning his whereabouts, being a family that leaves no family member behind, at the first ramp we could turn that car around and head back past stout and go further to Minnesota to get him we took it.
I started frantically calling the Jail. I asked them to confirm that indeed that they had Devon JJ in their possession because nothing that I was hearing sounded like him. I asked if he could go talk to him he said he was kind of out of it. I was simply confused. So, I asked the deputy to go and check the id against the face of the gentleman that they had in custody, I thought somebody had commandeered his car. He had never been to Minnesota before, he did not know anyone there, he did not like driving at all, let along highway driving. He had never even J-walked. He knew the difference between right and wrong. He knew how hard his dad and I had worked to provide opportunities for him and his sister. Above all that we had instilled in our children that when they ventured out into the world it was their responsibility to return the family name in the same condition that they had received it in. They not only represent themselves in the world, but all those that came before them and all those that would follow them.
This is why I knew something was drastically wrong with our son when the deputy confirmed that it was indeed him. We needed to get to him.
I stayed on the phone the whole way up attempting to find out how to post bond for him. This was new territory for everyone. I quickly found out that because I was not a local to the state the I could not bond him out. I had to find a bail bondman who was willing to come out there at that time and local to the state in order to retrieve my son that night.
I not only paid a customary 10%, but also had to sign that when the case was brought to a conclusion that I would be forfeiting that amount to the bailsman company. To embrace our son again when we thought he had met with foul play or negative choice I would have walked through hell.
When they let me in the dialog room I did not recognize the person that was in front of me. The person that I had known to be Devon Jenkins-Joshua was not in front of me. They had his face, his body, but not his personality or heart. The conversation they attempted to have with me was one that left me in a state of confusion. Places, people and activities were all being discussed in a confused swirl. He thought he was on his grandpa's land. Grandpa's land was not in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but Devon thought he had traveled to it. Grandpa has passed away prior to Devon being born, but for some reason he was fixated on Grandpa and his land.
The more I tried to correct his view point the more agitated he became. I exited the dialog room and picked up the other phone to speak with one of the jail representatives. I told them that something was wrong with my son, that I did not feel comfortable taking him out of there because I myself did not know the person that I was seeing. I could no longer stake my life on what he would or would not do. I inquired as to whether he had been seen my medical professionals since he had been in their establishment for two (2) days, apparently the day he went missing from the campus he was picked up the very same day.
I heard a resounding "No". I told her it was something wrong with him. She told me in the most human to fellow human voice that "this is not the place for him to receive the treatment he needed". I shut my mouth. Enough said, I read between the lines and heard the unspoken words. I needed to first get our son out of the establishment and then figure out what was wrong and then fix it.
He had been taken into the Wabasha County Jail in an altered state. To this date I still don't know why I was not contacted by the Jail. When I asked the Deputy, he told me that it was up to Devon to call me. I explained to him that something was not right with Devon so that it was impossible for him to communicate the necessary information to them and that it had been my hope if we found the car, which we did we would find Devon as well. Apparently, finding the car registered to a different person other than the person driving it, with a college id for the neighboring state was not enough to prompt them to make a phone call to the university or to me the owner of the vehicle until they saw his mia story being ran on television.
Devon was brought home, taken to the emergency room with his symptoms of altered state, confusion, change in personality, etc and was released they same way he went in, no diagnosis and no treatment.
I called hospital after hospital explaining Devon's symptoms and was told that there was a backlog queue to see the doctor's that specialized in the treatment that Devon so desperately needed. For six to eight weeks we never left Devon unattended. He quickly unraveled even further while we searched for somebody to see him now. He lost all his social norms like the need for clothing, the need for hygiene, the need to cleanup behind one's self. He was no longer interacting with anyone. Finally, I fumbled across a emergency room that had the specialist on staff that could see Devon immediately. We burnt rubber to get him there.
It was only then that we began to find out that Devon was in a age group that was prone for a emotional breakdown. I like to akin it to the Brittney Spears situation. The stresses of life, in Devon's case the stress of school without the usual academia support that he had always received from school due to the fact that Stout claimed they had a waiting list meant he was a fish thrown in pond with out any supports. The physical and emotional support that he would normally receive from his family as his biggest cheer leaders was also not available to him because he was four (4) plus hours away. The usual pep talks, hugs and tears were not there for him.
The stress broke him. He was diagnosed with frontal-lob seizures. This is the area of the brain that controls essentially "who you are", what you like or dislike, breathing, walking, talking the whole existence of you. This would explain the new, unimproved personality.
select diag and treatment tab
He started receiving meds to attempt to control the seizures that had altered him. Slowly but surely the essence of my son came back. He had fleeting memories of what had happened. He remembered going to the farm, he remembered attempting to turn on electricity at the box to attempt to plug in a slow-cooker he had located on the farm, but in his head he was on his grandpa's property. He did not remember the crushing question he had asked his dad which was "who are you?". He struggled with the side-effects of the meds that in the neurology office indicated what he was experiencing along the lines of parkinson's disease. Some days he could not get out of bed. Some days he could not remember conversations. Some days his body hurt so much he could not stand it. Independence had been within a year grasp of graduation for him. Now he was totally dependent on family and helpers to assist him. He struggled depression when he could not see how he could rebuild his life. I joked with him that he had been forced into a early retirement. While he struggled with his health issues we struggled to fight the charges against him.
We had secured an attorney to represent him. Many turned us down because they did not want to travel to Wabasha, Minnesota. It was almost 6 - months later, on June 7th that Devon's criminal case was dismissed due to the medical proof that he was in an altered state when it occurred. We have still not received his personal items back or a response to our request to have his record expunged.
Out of this situation we have been thankful for the following:
1. Our son was found alive in December of 2018.
2. That our son did not injury anybody when he was in his altered state
3. That we finally was able to get him medical treatment to restore Devon to the family even though it was a shadow of the Devon we had loved for 24 years.
4. To clear his criminal case so that he could remain in the arms of people that loved and cared for him instead of a system that would of chewed him up and spit him out as it grinded its wheels in an effort to deliver justice to the owner of the property he was on.
5. Finally, we are grateful that we were allowed a six-month extension of Devon's time on this earth to reconnect with him, to smother him with love and put him at peace.
So, when his brain misfired and he had a seizure this morning and collapsed we can only be thankful to Devon for enduring his sufferings as long as he did to allow the family to be emotionally capable for this next hurdle.
Of course, what we did not expect was our 24 year old to leave this earth. Hence, we have not prepared financially for such an event. This is why I have taken this opportunity to talk to you about Devon's choice.
He chose his friend that remained in his heart always.
He chose his discipline of study.
He chose his institution to attend.
He chose not to leave this earth in December 2018 when he had his first potential life-ending seizure.
He chose to give it his all and go on walks with family even though his body hurt.
He chose to open up his heart and soul and express himself though his eye gaze issues and speech delays
He chose to prepare us for his exiting of this world even though we did not recognize that at the time. (You know hind sight is 20/20).
Finally, he chose not to endure any more. He chose to go to the light.
We Luv you always
Devon (a.k.a. Booggie) Jenkins-Joshua
mom just wanted to put a voice to your struggle
caption: Devon took his last breath at Ascension Wheaton Franciscan in Franklin, WI on 27th the border of Franklin where he spent the majority of his life.