Jerome Ogletree and the Unsolved Murder of Jazmine Trotter

Jerome Ogletree was charged in April 2013 with the aggravated murder of 20-year-old Jazmine Trotter in Cleveland, Ohio, after DNA recovered from her body was matched to him. The charges were later dismissed, no one else has been publicly charged, and Trotter’s killing remains unsolved.¹²

How Jazmine Trotter Was Killed

Trotter left her boyfriend’s home around 5 a.m. on March 22, 2013, to walk to work. He reported her missing the next day. On the afternoon of March 24, her mother, Monique Williams, together with Trotter’s brother and a cousin, found her partially clothed body beneath the porch of an abandoned house in the 3900 block of East 93rd Street in Cleveland’s Union-Miles neighborhood. Williams said the family walked up a driveway, saw Trotter’s makeup bag on the ground, then her purse, and then found her under the porch.³

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Trotter died from blunt head trauma and strangulation.⁴ Police said she had also been sexually assaulted.¹

The Arrest and the DNA Match

Cleveland police arrested Ogletree, then 42, on April 2, 2013, after DNA from Trotter’s body was matched to him. Police said the two were acquainted.¹ He was charged with aggravated murder, appeared in Cleveland Municipal Court on April 5, 2013, and pleaded not guilty. A judge set bond at $1 million, and Ogletree was held in the Cuyahoga County Jail. The court indicated additional charges were expected once the case went to a grand jury.⁵

Why the Case Was Dismissed and Where It Stands

The charges against Ogletree were ultimately dropped. The available reporting does not spell out the specific reason for the dismissal.² One early report noted that even after the charges were dropped, police continued to consider Ogletree a suspect.⁶

No one else has been publicly charged. As of March 2025, the Cleveland Police homicide unit said it was still looking for leads and asked anyone with information to contact the department.⁷

Part of a Cluster of East 93rd Street Killings

Trotter’s death was one of four killings of women found in or near abandoned properties along East 93rd Street between December 2012 and May 2013, within roughly a two-mile radius:

Jameela Hasan, 37, found in December 2012, stabbed to death.
Jazmine Trotter, 20, found March 24, 2013, blunt head trauma and strangulation.
Christine Malone, 45, found March 28, 2013, in a field near East 93rd Street and Bessemer Avenue, blunt force trauma and strangulation.
Ashley Leszyeski, 21, found in May 2013 in a vacant lot, with sharp injuries to her head and neck.⁸

The proximity raised public concern about a possible serial killer. In 2017, the Cleveland Police Department said it could not rule one out but lacked sufficient evidence to support the theory.⁸ After Trotter’s and Malone’s deaths, the Cleveland Division of Police assembled a Violent Crimes Response Task Force and said at the time it did not have evidence tying the incidents to one another, noting that separate persons of interest had been identified in two of the cases.⁹

The Family’s Push for Answers

Trotter’s family has sought answers publicly for more than a decade. Her mother, Monique Williams, told reporters in 2019, “I’m looking for some answers. Her son is looking for some answers. If anything, why?” Trotter’s aunt, Phenon Williams, called the lack of information “very heartbreaking.”² The family has held annual balloon releases in her memory, and community activists have organized rallies for the four East 93rd Street victims, including a March 2019 gathering at East 93rd Street and Bessemer Avenue.¹⁰ As of 2023, families of all four victims continued to press for resolution, though police reported no active leads.⁸

1
Cleveland.com. Man Charged With Aggravated Murder in Death of Jazmine Trotter
2
Cleveland 19 News. Family of Slain Cleveland Mother Still Seeking Justice
3
Cleveland.com. Jazmine Trotter Found Dead by Family Members
4
FOX 8 Cleveland. $1 Million Bond for Trotter Murder Suspect
5
Cleveland 19 News. Charges in Jazmine Trotter Murder Expected Soon
6
Cleveland 19 News. Woman’s Body Found in East Side Field
7
Cleveland 19 News. Seeking Justice: Daughters Want Answers in Mother’s Murder 12 Years Later
8
Cleveland 19 News. Families of 4 Women Murdered a Decade Ago Continue Push for Justice
9
Cleveland Division of Police. Violent Crimes Response Task Force Update
10
FOX 8 Cleveland. Group Remembers, Demands Justice for Four Women Murdered on Cleveland’s East Side