CMPD charges man in connection with Steele Creek homicide

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating a woman's death in Steele Creek as a homicide.

Authorities were called to Verdant Court for a welfare check at about 2:25 p.m. Wednesday and found the woman’s body inside a townhouse.

(Leroy Cooper III)

Early Thursday morning, police identified the victim as 34-year-old Jennifer Smith. Officers have not said how she died.

Detectives told Channel 9 that Smith and the suspect, Leroy Cooper III, were involved in a relationship. Cooper was arrested in Greensboro and charged with first-degree murder.

“She was a great neighbor. She gave my brother gummy bears all the time,” said neighbor Kevin McCorsley.

Smith's death is Charlotte's 27th homicide of 2017.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective.

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Cox Media Group