A quiet evening in Franklinton, Louisiana, turned into a scene of mayhem that ended with the tragic death of 42-year-old Robin Dillon. On December 19, 2013, a chain of violent events began when Dillon's 20-year-old son, Christopher Dillon, attempted to rob a neighbor for money. During the robbery attempt, Christopher shot the neighbor in the arm. The injured man would later recover, but the violence was far from over.
After shooting his neighbor, Christopher ran back to the trailer he
shared with his mother, Robin. When Franklinton police officers arrived at the residence, they smelled gunpowder. Christopher initially pretended he was going to surrender, but then emerged from a hallway and fired a shot at Sergeant Chad Dorsett, hitting him in the forearm. Fortunately, the officer's bulletproof vest stopped the bullet from causing a more serious injury. For about an hour, Christopher held officers at bay, falsely claiming he was holding his mother hostage. Unbeknownst to the police, Robin Dillon had already been shot and was lying on her bedroom floor.
The standoff reached a grim climax when Christopher started a fire in his mother's bedroom. As the trailer became engulfed in flames, he crawled out through his own bedroom window and was promptly arrested by the officers on the scene. Once the fire was extinguished, authorities entered the charred remains of the home and discovered Robin Dillon's body in her bedroom. An autopsy later confirmed she had died from a single gunshot wound. Neighbors and family described a history of domestic issues between the mother and son, with police having been called to the residence on several prior occasions.
Christopher Rashad Dillon was taken into custody and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case due to the involvement of a police officer shooting. He initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. After a mental health evaluation determined he was exaggerating the extent of his mental illness, the case proceeded to trial. On the second day of his trial in January 2019, Christopher Dillon pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of his mother, Robin Dillon. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of attempted armed robbery for shooting his neighbor and Sergeant Dorsett. The judge sentenced him to a total of 70 years in prison without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The sentence brought a measure of closure to the family of Robin Dillon and the other victims of her son's violent rampage.
