In the early morning hours of September 19, 2007, the body of 37-year-old Nicole E. Bennett, an African-American female, was discovered by a passerby in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was found behind a vacant row house on Formosa Way, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the neck. Her death was quickly ruled a homicide by the Allegheny County medical examiner.
Near her body, a bicycle, presumed to be hers, was also found.
Nicole Bennett was a mother of seven children, who were being cared for by other relatives as she had no permanent address at the time of her death. Her family described her as leading a difficult lifestyle and expressed that they had been worried about her presence in the high-crime area where she was ultimately found. Her father and brother made it a daily routine to check on her in that neighborhood to ensure her well-being. Bennett had a criminal record and was awaiting trial on theft and other charges. A warrant had been issued for her arrest after she failed to appear in court.
A significant focus of the police investigation into her murder was her role as a witness in two separate homicide cases. In 1994, her testimony helped convict a man of second-degree murder. At the time of her death, she was a key prosecution witness in an upcoming trial for a homicide that had occurred in January 2007. She had testified at a preliminary hearing in March of that year against the defendant, who was subsequently ordered to stand trial. Investigators considered the possibility that her murder was connected to her cooperation with law enforcement, a concern heightened by the circulation of 'snitch lists' in the area.
Despite the ongoing investigation and appeals to the public for information, no arrests have ever been made in connection with the murder of Nicole Bennett. Her case remains an unsolved homicide, leaving her family and community without closure. Authorities have continued to ask for anyone with information regarding her death to come forward.
