In a tragic turn of events, 50-year-old Sharon Epps, a female nurse, and her 27-year-old son, Tyrell Bell, were discovered deceased in their Claremont apartment on Fulton Avenue in the Bronx. The grim discovery was made on the evening of Saturday, October 1, 2016, by firefighters who had been called to the residence for a reported gas leak. Both Epps and her son had been shot in the head.
The investigation quickly focused on Antonio Robinson, Epps's longtime partner of over 25 years,
with whom she lived. Police arrested the 49-year-old Robinson, an ex-convict, the following day. Neighbors and friends described a tumultuous relationship, with Robinson being characterized as a heavy drinker who would often terrorize Epps. It was also reported that Robinson had frequently threatened to kill Bell. Police had been called to the residence for domestic incidents on two prior occasions in 2011 and 2013.
Prosecutors detailed a chilling sequence of events, stating that on the afternoon of October 1, 2016, Robinson entered his stepson's room as he was watching television and shot him twice in the face. He then proceeded to the bedroom where Sharon Epps was resting and shot her in the head, neck, and torso. In an attempt to cover up the murders, Robinson opened the gas jets in the apartment, hoping for an explosion. After leaving the apartment for four hours and returning to find his plan had failed, he alerted neighbors, claiming to have found his wife and stepson dead.
Antonio Robinson was charged with murder and manslaughter. On November 1, 2022, a jury found him guilty of one count of first-degree murder for killing more than one person. In July 2023, a Bronx Supreme Court Justice sentenced Robinson, then 56, to 25 years to life in prison for the cold-blooded murders of his wife and stepson.
