Kendall Jenner says she was terrified at stalking scene
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kendall Jenner testified Thursday at the trial of a man accused of stalking her that she was terrified when he followed her up the driveway of her Hollywood Hills home and repeatedly banged on the window of her car.
The 20-year-old model and reality TV star used her hands to illustrate how she made frantic phone calls to friends after locking the doors and watching Shavaughn McKenzie until help arrived.
"I've never been so scared in my life," Jenner told the Los Angeles jury hearing the case against McKenzie.
Jenner also said she recognized McKenzie as the same person who had accosted her twice while she was driving outside a condo she owned in Westwood.
Jenner kept her composure through more than two hours of testimony about McKenzie, 25, who was arrested in August outside her home and charged with misdemeanor stalking and trespassing.
He could face up to six months in jail if convicted of either charge.
McKenzie is a transient from Florida who has several trespassing convictions unrelated to Jenner.
He stared at his lap or toward a wall on the opposite end of the courtroom throughout much of her testimony.
McKenzie's attorney Taylor Shramo told jurors during opening statements Wednesday that his client has a severe mental disorder and was unarmed and simply trying to talk to the model.
Jenner, who wore a backless beige blouse and jeans to the crowded courtroom, said she first spotted McKenzie sitting in a street outside her Hollywood Hills home and was suspicious as she pulled into her tree-lined driveway and watched the 13-foot-tall gate close behind her.
McKenzie somehow slipped through and wasn't noticed until Jenner prepared to leave the car, she testified.
Even after McKenzie was arrested, Jenner refused to leave her car. "I was terrified," she said. "I was literally traumatized."
Deputy City Attorney Alex Perez said during opening statements that McKenzie was an "obsessed, mentally unstable fan" who had repeatedly tried to meet Jenner outside her homes.
Family friend Shelli Azoff, who rushed with her husband to aid Jenner after getting a call that night, has testified that the incident left Jenner shaken.
Jenner stayed with the Azoffs for several nights and was afraid to sleep alone, Azoff testified.
Jenner said she has added lights, cameras and a security detail at her home since McKenzie was arrested.
"It's definitely put me even more on edge," she said. "I definitely don't feel safe in my own house anymore."
Jenner is the younger sister of Kim Kardashian West and in court she shyly recounted her career, which includes appearing on her family's reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," doing a cover photo for Vogue magazine and modeling for top fashion lines.