The brother of New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins was arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated manslaughter after a body was discovered Tuesday at the player’s home in New Jersey. If convicted of the felony charge, William H. Jenkins could receive a sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison.
Jenkins, 34, was reportedly arrested after being detained in Ontario County, N.Y., on an alleged parole violation. He is awaiting likely extradition to New Jersey, where Bergen County authorities had labeled him a “person of interest” in the case.
The body was identified as that of Roosevelt Rene, a 25-year-old music producer who is described as a Jenkins family friend.
Janoris Jenkins, 29, reportedly has been in Florida, where he is from, since Giants minicamp ended earlier this month. It is not clear how Rene, who produced under the name Trypps Beatz, died and an autopsy is pending by the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s office. Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reported that police are investigating the death at the Fair Lawn, N.J., home as a “possible strangulation/suffocation.”
A worker discovered Rene’s body in the basement, according to TMZ, and Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler told NJ.com that police were summoned at 10:22 a.m. Members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Bergen County Sheriff’s Office were also on scene and Metzler added that police had never been called to the home before. No other details about the investigation were given.
A neighbor who identified herself to NJ.com only as Debbie said that Jenkins lives at the home with his brother and the website reported that investigators were combing through a white Lexus sedan with Florida plates and a Land Rover.
Jenkins, who raps under the name Rabbit, has been with the Giants since 2016. He was a second-round pick by the Rams in 2012. ESPN reported that Jenkins’s attorneys were advising him to remain in Florida. The Giants said they were aware of the report and were monitoring the situation.
William Jenkins has been arrested at least seven times previously, according to court records obtained by NJ.com, including in 2002 at the age of 18. Since then, he has spent a total of nearly seven years behind bars, with a 63-month stint that began after a 2011 arrest for possession and sale of a controlled substance.
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