Robinson conviction upheld
Published 10:33 am Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Robinson conviction upheld
By Jeremy Weldon
The Mississippi State Court of Appeals has upheld the life sentences given to Quendarius Robinson for the 2015 murders of his girlfriend and her grandmother in Como.
Robinson was found guilty in November, 2016. His attorneys appealed the conviction, saying that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting certain heresay evidence at trial.
Their assertions were based on the statements gathered by investigators during a forensic interview with Robinson’s son, Quendarius (Junior) Robinson, Jr.
Robinson was tried in Panola County Circuit Court with Judge Smith Murphey presiding. He was sentenced to two life terms, plus 10 years for the possession of a weapon by a felony.
A statement of facts released with the Court of Appeals’ decision says Robinson had an “off and on” relationship with the mother of his child, Cearea Jackson.
Jackson lived in Como with her two sons – Junior and two-month old Quendez Robinson – and her grandmother Emma.
On the evening of Nov. 27, 2015, Junior ran to the house of his next-door neighbor, Sherry Boyce, in a state of shock and hysterical.
Boyce testified that Junior told her “dad done shot my momma and shot my grandmomma.” Her boyfriend, Kentry Holmes, corroborated Boyce’s testimony.
Law enforcement and EMTs responded to the scene, and found Jackson and her grandmother dead from gunshot wounds.
Robinson, who witnesses say left the scene in a 2007 Nissan Altima, was subsequently arrested in Batesville. A black “hoodie” he was reportedly wearing the night of the confrontation was found in the car with gunshot residue on the left sleeve.
Defense attorneys argued that the small child could not be considered an expert witness, and had given slightly different versions of where he was during the actual shooting.
The appellate court found that all witnesses to Robinson’s presence at the house the night of the murders, and to the initial reports by Junior that his father had fired the weapon, gave consistent testimony about the night’s events.
