In the summer of 2014, a quiet Sunday evening in midtown Omaha, Nebraska, was shattered by violence that claimed the life of a 59-year-old Black / African American man, Frank Sanders. On July 20th, police responded to a call of a shooting and discovered Sanders deceased inside his apartment around 11 p.m. The initial investigation into his death quickly shifted from a grim discovery to a homicide case, setting in motion a search for those responsible for the fatal shooting.
Within days,
the investigation led to the arrests of two men, 24-year-old Absalom Scott and 29-year-old Rico Larry. Warrants were issued, and both were charged with first-degree murder and weapons counts in connection with Sanders' death. The swift arrests brought a sense of progress to the case, but the full picture of what transpired that night was still coming into focus.
Further investigation and legal proceedings revealed the tragic circumstances of Sanders' murder. He was killed during a drug transaction that escalated into a robbery inside his own home. In September of the following year, another individual, Jaquez Clifton of Omaha, was found guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony for his role in the death of the man also known as Frank "Red" Sanders. After a seven-day trial, a jury deliberated for nearly seven hours before reaching a guilty verdict, solidifying a crucial conviction in the case and ensuring a measure of justice for the violent end to a man's life.
