During a robbery on Aug. 4, 2012, Daquan Tinker didn’t get Terrence Robinson‘s belongings, prosecutors say, “he took his life.”
But Tinker’s defense attorneys argue that this is a case of mistaken identity, that there are inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony, and that police involved in the case “failed to follow leads” that would exclude Tinker.
After a three-week trial, jurors must decide whether Tinker deliberately shot and killed Robinson while attempting to rob him.
Robinson, 48, was found dead on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds to his body in the 2600 block of Douglas Road in Southeast when police responded to a report of a shooting, according to court documents. Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Sunil Kumar testified that Robinson was shot in the head, twice in the back, and in his left hip. Bullets pierced his heart, left lung and gall bladder.
Tinker, 18, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, armed robbery and six related charges in connection with Robinson’s death.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne Dedjinou argued that on the day of Robinson’s death, Antoine Boddie was a victim of a robbery and a witness to a homicide.
Neither Robinson nor Boddie knew Tinker and his friends were lurking in the neighborhood, she said. “They were unsuspecting victims.”
On the stand, Boddie testified that early that morning he walked to the dumpster and spotted a group of five young African-American men walking towards him. He described the group’s leader as a light-skinned black man wearing a mask and the other four as dark-skinned African-Americans.
While holding a gun, Tinker told Boddie, “Get down or I’ll blow your f—ing brains out, and then he went across the street and killed Robinson,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich DiZinno told jurors.
Boddie said he could partially see the light skinned man. He heard a man say that he was headed to the subway station. Within five seconds of this, Boddie heard three or four gunshots.
Defense Attorney Madalyn Harvey argued that the description Boddie gave police “did not add up,” and that there were two light-skinned men present that night of the murder. Harvey added that in a reliable array of photos given by police, Boddie identified someone other than Tinker.
In court Thursday, Harvey read grand jury testimony from Anthony Smallwood. Smallwood initially said that another man — nicknamed “Woody” — admitted to shooting Robinson. But Smallwood later said Woody shot Robinson first and then another individual fired after, based on what another man called “Fats” told him.
Harvey argued that police conducted a “poor investigation” and the government “ignored the fact that Tinker and Woody are both light-skinned.”
Dedjinou argued that that there were “tweets of admission” by Tinker: On a cousin’s phone, “which Tinker had access to, Tinker tweeted ‘Homicide’ from his account nine minutes after searching homicidewatch.org,” Dedjinou said.
Jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations at 9:30 a.m. on Monday.
Additional reporting by Amelia Rufer and Megan Arellano
