In the early morning hours of February 18, 2015, the life of 26-year-old Dion Robinson, a Black male from De Soto, Missouri, was tragically cut short. Robinson was found with a gunshot wound in the driveway of a residence in the 800 block of Blow Street. Emergency responders were called to the scene around 12:45 a.m. following reports of shots fired.
Upon arrival, officers discovered Robinson on the ground and immediately began performing CPR, but their efforts were in vain, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into Robinson's death quickly pointed to a domestic dispute. It was reported that Robinson had gone to his girlfriend's house and she had asked him to leave. When he refused, she contacted another man, Thomas Harris, for assistance. An altercation ensued, during which Robinson allegedly took a cellphone from the woman before Harris shot him.
Law enforcement was able to track the suspects using cell phone data, which led them to a hotel in St. Louis County. There, they arrested 30-year-old Thomas Harris of Festus without incident. A woman who was with Harris at the time was also taken into custody. Harris was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Dion Robinson's death. He was held in jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond as the case proceeded through the legal system, handled by the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. While the woman who was with Harris was initially held, she was later released, with the consideration of charges against her pending further investigation.
In November, a jury found Thomas Harris guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. The following March, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the shooting death of Dion Robinson, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had deeply affected the De Soto community.
