In the early morning hours of Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015, the life of 42-year-old Rosena Lea Hood, a Caucasian female from Clay City, Kentucky, was tragically cut short. She was at her home on Echo Hollow Road with her husband, James 'Jimmy' Hood, when a single gunshot shattered the quiet of the morning. Emergency responders were dispatched to the scene following a 911 call from her husband.
According to reports, Jimmy Hood told the dispatcher that they had been 'playing around with
the gun, and it went off.' Rosena was found to have been shot in the stomach with what was believed to be a. 380 semi-automatic pistol. She was rushed to Saint Joseph Mount Sterling hospital, but her injuries proved fatal, and she was pronounced dead. The couple had a history of verbal altercations that had previously brought law enforcement to their residence, though there was no prior indication that the disputes would escalate to such a violent outcome.
In the wake of his wife's death, 48-year-old James Hood was arrested by the Kentucky State Police and charged with second-degree manslaughter. The investigation into the shooting continued, with police considering the possibility that it was related to a domestic issue and whether alcohol may have been a contributing factor, as there had reportedly been a party at the house earlier that evening. Rosena was a mother to a son and a daughter, and her sudden death left her family and the small community of Clay City in mourning.
