Roy Jennings, 54, an African-American man, was found dead on Saturday, October 3, 2015, in the basement of a house at 5309 North 35th Street in Omaha. Family members said he had been living in the area for about two years, and neighbors told reporters they hadn t heard gunfire before officers discovered his body. Loved ones remembered him as a South High graduate who loved football, fishing, and family, and they spoke of months of worry about his safety leading up to his death.
Police activity at the address was not new. According to 911 dispatchers cited in local reporting, officers had been called to the home eight times in the prior two years. In the days after his death, relatives organized efforts to help pay for burial expenses while pleading for answers, underscoring the shock and grief that rippled through his family and the neighborhood.
Within days, investigators arrested Patricia Hill, 51, and booked her into the Douglas County Department of Corrections on a charge of being an accessory to a felony in connection with Jennings s death. In court, a prosecutor said cleaning supplies were found in the basement near where the body lay and alleged that Hill had asked friends to help her take care of something, and told another person regarding the body to go clean that up. Hill s bond was set at $75,000, and the judge pressed prosecutors on the basis for the accessory allegation; Hill had herself called police to report the body, her public defender noted. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for October 23, 2015.
At the time, police and Crime Stoppers appealed for public tips, emphasizing that the investigation remained active. Subsequent reports available in the cited coverage do not indicate that a primary suspect was publicly identified or charged with homicide in Jennings s death beyond the accessory count filed against Hill in the immediate aftermath.
