Greensboro police investigate homicide of 96-year-old woman on Benjamin Parkway

A 2 a.m. call on Benjamin Parkway turned into a homicide investigation after Greensboro officers heard a gunshot inside a home in the 1500 block and forced their way inside. By the next evening, the 96-year-old woman found there was dead, and police had shifted the case from an emergency response to a deadly violence probe.

Officers were sent to the block on June 11 after a report of a person threatening suicide. Police said they found two seriously injured people inside and took both to a local hospital. One of the victims, Dolores Ricks, died of her injuries on June 12. WFMY News 2 also reported that one other person was injured.

The case has left key questions unanswered. Police have said there is no threat to the public and that they are not looking for any more suspects, but they have not publicly explained what caused the violence, what relationship the two people in the home had, or whether there were any earlier calls or safety concerns tied to the address. For neighbors who use Benjamin Parkway every day, the immediate concern is not just the crime itself but how quickly a crisis call inside a home can become a homicide scene.

The investigation comes as Greensboro continues to track a heavy toll of killings in 2026. On June 5, police said the city had recorded its 11th homicide of the year. Earlier, the department said the city was at its third homicide on March 23 in the Danny Eugene Williams case, then at its 10th homicide on May 3 in the Laquasia Shamecca Fields case. In that earlier Fields case, detectives said the people involved knew each other and that no additional suspects were being sought.

Greensboro police say their homicide squad works closely with the Medical Examiner and the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office as serious cases move forward. In homicide updates, investigators also routinely ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000, a reminder that even when a scene is secured, the public often holds the answers detectives still need.