Renata Veljacic

Renata Veljacic was a 29-year-old Caucasian woman known to friends and family as nice, friendly, respectful, and responsible. In the early morning hours of July 8, 2024, her life was cut short in a parking lot in a south Louisville, Kentucky, neighborhood. Louisville Metro Police Department officers responded to a call about a shooting just before 2 a.m. in the 8000 block of Glimmer Way. They arrived to find Veljacic suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.

The investigation quickly led to a suspect. About nine hours after the shooting, police located 32-year-old Stephanie Hill at a Circle K on New Cut Road and took her into custody. According to police reports, Hill admitted to her involvement, stating she had been "manipulating the firearm at the time of the gun being discharged." She also told detectives she ran from the scene, threw the gun away, and took Veljacic’s cellphone. Hill said she tried to sleep in the woods to avoid being arrested. When she was found, she was in possession of heroin.

Hill, a resident of Vine Grove, was initially charged with murder, robbery, tampering with physical evidence, and possession of a controlled substance. She pleaded not guilty, and her bond was set at $250,000. In September 2024, a grand jury indicted her on the same charges. Later that month, a judge lowered her bond to $50,000.

The case concluded nearly two years later. As part of a plea agreement, Stephanie Hill pleaded guilty to amended charges of reckless homicide, tampering with physical evidence, and drug charges. In exchange for her plea, the original murder and robbery charges were dropped.

In August 2026, a judge sentenced Hill to five years of probation, diverting a potential seven-year prison sentence. The judge, Annie O'Connell, noted that Hill was a low risk to re-offend if she received help for her addiction and that community-based programs were better suited for her treatment needs than prison. As a condition of her probation, Hill was ordered to report to a recovery center for a 90-day monitored program.