In a quiet Norcross, Georgia neighborhood, the stillness of a November afternoon in 2016 was shattered by a grim discovery that left a family torn apart and a community in shock. Josephine Roby-Skinner, a 55-year-old African American woman, was found tragically deceased in her home on Pebble Creek Drive. The devastating scene also claimed the lives of her 10-year-old daughter, Jasmyn Skinner, and her 26-year-old son, Jermaine Roby. All three had succumbed to gunshot wounds in what investigators quickly began to suspect was a murder-suicide.
The horrific discovery was made by Vernon Skinner, Josephine's husband and the children's father, who had left for work only to be called back to the house by his son under the pretense that his daughter was ill. Upon his return, he was met with an unimaginable horror. The Gwinnett County Police were summoned to the residence where they found the three family members in different parts of the house.
As the investigation unfolded, details emerged suggesting a darker story beneath the surface of what appeared to be a happy family. Jermaine Roby, a former member of the Navy who was studying music and was often described by neighbors as a cheerful individual, became the primary suspect in the deaths of his mother and young sister. Authorities began to work under the theory that Jermaine had shot and killed his mother and sister before turning the gun on himself.
The complexity of the case deepened when investigators discovered a potential link between the Norcross triple shooting and another homicide that had occurred in Atlanta on the same day. Jermaine Roby was identified as a person of interest in the shooting death of 40-year-old Quincy King. This revelation prompted a joint investigation between the Gwinnett County and Atlanta Police Departments. Detectives worked to compare ballistic evidence from both crime scenes to determine if the same weapon had been used in all the killings. While the initial investigation pointed towards a tragic murder-suicide, the connection to the Atlanta homicide added another layer of mystery to the devastating loss of Josephine Roby-Skinner and her young daughter.
