A pair of cops have been charged with the 2016 murder of a black college student in Atlanta, Georgia, who was shot 59 times during an arrest.
US Marshal Eric Heinze and Clayton county police officer Kristopher Hutchens were formally charged yesterday with the murder of college student Jamarion Robinson in Atlanta, more than five years after the incident took place.
A grand jury on Tuesday returned an eight-count indictment against the law enforcement officers over the killing of 26-year-old Robinson, who was shot 59 times during 'three minutes of gunfire' in an attempted arrest.
Robinson, a college footballer at Clark Atlanta University, sustained 76 bullet wounds according to a medical examiner's report from police on August 5, 2016, when officers tried to enter his apartment.
Heinze and Hutchens were also charged with aggravated assault, burglary, making false statements and violation of oath by a public officer.
Law enforcement believed Robinson was the man responsible for pointing a gun at Atlanta officers and fleeing, according to authorities, but it is still not clear if the student was armed at the time of his killing.
Robinson had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in December 2015 and had battled deteriorating mental health prior to his death.
Jamarion Robinson (pictured), a 26-year-old student at Clark Atlanta University, was shot 76 times during 'three minutes of gunfire' by police on August 5, 2016, when officers tried to enter his apartment according to a medical examiner's report.
Jamarion Robinson's family called him 'Daddy Daycare' because he was the go-to babysitter, according to the slaughtered college footballer's mother Monteria Robinson
Eric Heinze, an assistant chief inspector with the U.S. Marshal's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, and Kristopher Hutchens, a Clayton County police officer, were formally charged yesterday with Robinson's murder (pictured: indictment of Heinze and Hutchens)
A U.S. Marshals Service spokesman has said officers were attempting to serve warrants on Robinson issued by Atlanta police and Gwinnett County police in the Atlanta suburbs when Robinson was killed.
Cell phone footage of the incident published on YouTube appears to show exchanges of gunfire which lasted for three minutes.
A private detective hired by Robinson's mother uncovered evidence of gunshots fired straight into the ground where her son's body was lying.
There is no body-camera video of the shooting, because federal policies didn´t allow U.S. Marshals or local police officers assisting them to wear body cameras at the time.
'Over 90 rounds were fired at my son, flash-bang grenades were thrown at him, landed on him burning him,' Jamarion's mother Monteria Robinson said at a news conference last year.
'Somebody walked up the stairs, stood over him, and shot down into his body two more times. After that he was handcuffed and dragged down a flight of stairs.'
A private detective hired by Robinson's mother (pictured right) uncovered evidence of gunshots fired straight into the ground where her son's body was lying. 'Over 90 rounds were fired at my son, flash-bang grenades were thrown at him, landed on him burning him,' Jamarion's mother Monteria Robinson said at a news conference last year.
A U.S. Marshals Service spokesman has said officers were attempting to serve warrants on Robinson issued by Atlanta police and Gwinnett County police in the Atlanta suburbs when Robinson (pictured) was killed. He was shot dozens of times during the arrest which came only after minutes of gunfire from police
The case had been delayed from being brought before a grand jury a couple of times, with the latest owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
A former Fulton County district attorney, Paul Howard, had said the investigation into the case was blocked by the officers' refusal to cooperate and the absence of body camera footage.
But when Howard lost his position to Fani Willis, the new prosecutor promised swifter action.
The District Attorney´s Office declined comment on the grand jury action, saying late Tuesday that it was waiting on a copy of the indictment.
Robinson had been a college football player at Clark Atlanta University and Tuskegee University, and had no criminal convictions.
It was not immediately known if Heinze or Hutchinson had lawyers who could comment on their behalf.
Attorney Gerald Griggs, who is close with Robinson's family, said the family celebrated the decision, which they've been waiting on for five years.
Post a Comment