Detectives were canvassing the dorms at Valdosta State University and interviewing students Monday, trying to find out all they can about how a 17-year-old freshman from Lawrenceville spent her last hours of life.
The pace of the investigation into the death of Jasmine Benjamin is picking up now that students have returned from Thanksgiving break, police said.
Commander Brian Childress of the Valdosta Police Department said he spoke Sunday to a student who provided a critical piece of information about the case, but he declined to go into detail about that information.
Benjamin’s body was found at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 18 on a couch in a study room at Georgia Hall. Police are awaiting toxicology test results, expected some time in the next two weeks, before they make an official determination on the cause of death. In the meantime they are treating the case like a homicide, Childress said.
Childress said detectives do not believe that Benjamin was the victim of a random crime.
“The university has taken some action to tighten up security, but we do not believe at this point that there is some killer running loose at Valdosta [State] University,” Childress said. “We have a couple of theories about what happened, and we’re trying to tighten it down and talk to additional folks.”
The Lowndes County Coroner has said that Benjamin may have been deceased for 12 to 15 hours by the time her body was discovered. There were no obvious signs of trauma, and investigators initially thought she died of natural causes, said Childress.
The Valdosta City Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are assisting with the investigation at the request of the Valdosta State University Police Department.
Campus crime statistics dating back to 2008 on the Valdosta State University Police Department website indicate that violent crimes on campus are rare. There have not been any murders or manslaughters at the school in the past four years. There was only one robbery and one aggravated assault last year.
Thressea H. Boyd, director of communications for Valdosta State, said the residence halls have security cameras. Electronic swipe and color-coded cards are required to get into the residence halls. Visitors — including parents, students and other guests — also have to sign in and out.
Police officer patrols around the residence halls have been increased since Benjamin’s body was found, and the university is providing updates about the investigation on its website, Boyd said.
“The university’s primary goal is the continued safety of the campus community,” said Boyd.
Even as Benjamin’s stepfather, James Jackson, was making preparations for her funeral service Thursday, he expressed hope that police and media attention would remain focused on catching the culprit.
“There are other children on the campus,” Jackson said. “Other parents need to get peace and we need to get some closure.”
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