On February 12, 2012 at 11:44 a. m., the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported that Nancy Grooms, 52, had been found dead in the bedroom of her residence at 920 122nd Avenue. The Medical Examiner’s Office later determined Grooms died as a result of several stab wounds.
Detectives viewed video surveillance footage from a couple of convenience stores and they showed Grooms in the company of an unknown Black male. She was wearing the same clothing in the videos she was found dead in. The unknown male was later identified as Otano Leggett, 24.
Through interviews, detectives learned Leggett was seen leaving Grooms’ apartment. She had not been seen or heard from again until she was found dead. DNA evidence was gathered and it linked Leggett to Grooms prior to her death.
On January 25, 2013, detectives charged Leggett with first-degree murder with a weapon. He is currently serving a 2 year sentence in Florida State Prison on drug charges after his conviction in August 2012.
Grooms was the mother of one child, Rosealee Hoffman, of Texas. She was born at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended schools in five states and in Italy while her father served in the Navy.
Grooms was a 1992 graduate of the University of South Florida, and had been living in Tampa for several years.
