Police investigating possible murder at NFL player Janoris Jenkins’ home
Police are investigating the death of Roosevelt Rene, a 25-year-old music producer whose body was found inside NFL player Janoris Jenkins’ house in New Jersey.
Mr Jenkins, a member of the defence for the New York Giants, was in Florida when the body was discovered by a houseworker in his basement. The Bergen County prosecutor’s office major crime unit and Fair Lawn police department are treating the case as a possible homicide, sources told ESPN.
In a statement, the Giants said they were “aware of and monitoring the situation”.
Mr Rene was a hip-hop producer and artist who went by the stage name Trypps Beatz, as well as a family friend of the football player. He reportedly recently moved into the New Jersey residence where his body was discovered on Tuesday morning.
Later that night, a man claiming to be Mr Jenkins’ brother attempted to board a plane from Newark, New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Also last night in NJ, a man claiming to be Janoris Jenkins’ brother was on a Jet Blue flight to Fort Lauderdale from Newark to allegedly meet up with Janoris. The man caused delays because he was too scared to fly according to witnesses I spoke to. He got off the plane #giants
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) June 26, 2018
Ms Russini tweeted that “the man caused delays because he was too scared to fly,” before he left the JetBlue flight.
Law enforcement sources told the NFL Network that Mr Rene’s possible cause of death was strangulation and suffocation.
“The manner of death will be determined by the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office after a post-mortem exam,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
You are watching the masters at work 📸@melgotit2 #billiondollarhitz💰 #tryppsbeatz #weintheworld🌎
A post shared by Trypps Beatz (@trypps_beatz) on Jun 1, 2018 at 7:35am PDT
The NFL player was arrested in 2009 for his involvement in a physical altercation inside a Florida bar, and was charged twice with possession of marijuana in 2011.
A Fair Lawn police officer said law enforcement had never previously been called to Mr Jenkins’ home prior to this week.
Public records indicate Mr Jenkins purchased the New Jersey residence in 2016 for nearly $500,000.
The music producer’s Instagram page was flooded with comments on Wednesday morning, as people expressed shock and pain over his death.