Illinois remembers 4 slain in Rockford knife attack after authorities charge 22-year-old man in rampage

From his window, Garr said he saw the man continue to attack the man before getting in a black truck.

“He floored it, like down to the ground, and ran over the mailman,” Garr said. “Smashed my car. Then he put it in reverse and backed over the mailman in my yard.”

Garr did not sleep Wednesday night.

Hours after Garr’s car was towed and he spoke with investigating officers, Michelle Reed and her daughter Amelia Rodriguez arrived early to a vigil honoring the victims with a bundle of balloons, a prayer candle, a bouquet of flowers and a stuffed animal.

Jenna Newcomb was a close friend of Amelia’s, they said. Amelia, 16, remembered Jenna as a caring person who aspired to become a labor and delivery nurse in honor of her mom and little brother.

“She thought everybody should have a chance with a kid and a safe delivery,” she said of Jenna. Jenna also played softball and participated on the dance and cheerleading teams at Rockford East High School. She loved to put her cat on her social media and didn’t like negative people: “She was a peacemaker with everybody,” Amelia said.

The girls had been looking forward to attending college together, Reed added. In the meantime, they’d been making plans for Jenna’s birthday and playing a lot of badminton together. They had been planning to get together this week, Amelia said.

Tito Leggett, 20, said he’d attended the gathering out of concern for the victims and their families but also because he was rattled on the heels of a first fatal stabbing that had taken place at a Rockford Wal-Mart just days earlier and claimed the life of a teenage worker.

He hadn’t know the victim of the first stabbing, identified as Jason Jenkins, personally, but said they’d had social overlap.

Leggett, Amelia and her mother were among hundreds who gathered at the vigil Thursday afternoon, which included prayer offerings from local religious and political leaders recognizing both Jenkins and the victims of the Wednesday attack.

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