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Police are investigating the discovery of a dead body at the New Jersey home of New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins.
The body, identified by acting prosecutor Dennis Calo as Roosevelt Rene, a “family friend of the residents,” per Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com, was found in June while Jenkins was reportedly out of the state.
A day later, Jenkins’ brother, William Jenkins, was taken into custody and charged with aggravated manslaughter.
#BCPONJ & @FairLawnPD announce William H. JENKINS, Jr. of Fair Lawn, charged: Agg. Manslaughter for death of Roosevelt Rene.
— BCPONJ (@BCPONJ) June 27, 2018
JENKINS in custody in Ontario Co., NY. Investigation ongoing, unable to release further info. Charges merely accusations. Defendant presumed innocent.
According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Janoris Jenkins has been in Florida since the team finished minicamp, which ended with a session on June 14. He twice posted on Instagram about a party that he’s holding in Orlando on Saturday, June 30.
On Thursday, Jenkins posted on Instagram about the death of Rene:
Russini says Jenkins had family staying at the home, and that the police quickly ruled it a homicide investigation. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said police were investigating strangulation/suffocation as the cause of death.
It was reported by TMZ that William Jenkins was arrested about nine hours before the discovery of the body for “an unrelated parole warrant issue” and that he was a person of interest in the case.
Russini reported someone claiming to be the brother of Jenkins acted strange at an airport in Newark, N.J. days prior, although it’s unclear if this is the same man who is now in custody.
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
Jenkins, 29, signed a five-year, $62.5 million deal with the Giants in 2016 after spending the first four years of his career with the St. Louis Rams. He made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career in 2016, but missed seven games in 2017 due to an ankle injury that required surgery.