Romelio Jenkins

Romelio Jenkins, an 18-year-old Black man known to friends as “9 Rome,” was a resident of Greenville, Mississippi, with a playful personality and a love for smiling. He was a student and a wide receiver for the Gentry High School Rams in Indianola, wearing the number 88. Those who knew him remembered his good heart and left loving messages for him after his death, like “The family misses you bro” and “we love you forever.” He was born on October 11, 1997, and in the fall of 2016, he was just weeks away from celebrating his nineteenth birthday.

On the night of Tuesday, September 27, 2016, Romelio was in Indianola, a city in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, when his life was cut short by gun violence. The specific details of what happened in his final moments have not been made public. It is not known what time the shooting occurred, on what street, or what circumstances led to the fatal encounter. The Indianola Police Department responded to the incident and opened a homicide investigation into the death of the promising young athlete.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, investigators from the Indianola Police Department announced that they were searching for two suspects in connection with Romelio's murder. However, officials did not release descriptions of these individuals or any information about a potential motive for the crime. Since that initial announcement, there have been no widely reported updates on the status of the search or the investigation. No arrests have been announced, and no charges have been filed in the case, leaving a painful void for Romelio’s family and community.

Family and friends gathered to say goodbye to Romelio more than a week after his death. A visitation was held on Friday, October 7, 2016, at Byas Funeral Home in Indianola. The funeral service took place the following day, Saturday, October 8, at the Hayes Chapel of the same funeral home. He was later buried in the Riverside Memorial Gardens in Indianola. In the years since his death, an online memorial page has collected messages of love and remembrance, with friends and family lighting thousands of virtual candles in his honor.

The city of Indianola, located in Sunflower County, has grappled with its share of violent crime over the years, and the loss of a young man with a future ahead of him was a profound blow to the community. The investigation into the homicide of Romelio Jenkins is now considered a cold case, one of several unsolved murders in the city.

Years have passed since Romelio Jenkins was killed, and his case remains unresolved. The identities of the two suspects sought by police in 2016 are still unknown to the public, and the questions surrounding his death persist. The Indianola Police Department has not released any new information regarding persons of interest, evidence, or leads. For his loved ones, the absence of answers and justice compounds the grief of their loss. The case remains open, awaiting a break that might finally explain what happened on that tragic September night.