Roy, former news editor of the banned Expo Times newspaper, died after contracting tuberculosis in Freetown’s central prison. The Sierra Leonean government closed the newspaper in 1997, claiming that it was run by sympathizers of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement.
In December 1998, Roy appeared at the magistrate’s court, where he was convicted of treason, aiding and abetting the enemy, and conspiring to overthrow the government. Roy was released from prison during the RUF occupation of Freetown in January 1999. After RUF forces retreated from the city in February, soldiers of the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force (ECOMOG) rearrested him. Roy contracted tuberculosis in prison. He received no medical treatment until April 26, four days before his death in Lakka TB Hospital, 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Freetown.