JoAnne Robinson, a 23-year-old African American woman, was tragically murdered on April 11, 1991, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Born on June 30, 1967, in Scotland County, North Carolina, she was the daughter of Joseph Robinson and Mary Gailbreath. JoAnne struggled with a crack cocaine addiction and was known to engage in prostitution. Her lifeless, naked body was discovered just blocks away from her residence, marking the first in a series of murders that would later be attributed to a serial
killer.
The perpetrator, Robert Sylvester Alston, targeted young African American women who were either sex workers or battling drug addictions. Operating in Greensboro, Alston's modus operandi involved picking up his victims in his dark blue Pontiac, sexually assaulting them, and then strangling them to death. Following JoAnne's murder, Alston continued his killing spree, claiming the lives of several more women over the next few years.
Alston's reign of terror came to an end in early January 1994 when he assaulted a 29-year-old African American woman in Guilford County. After offering her a ride, he drove to a secluded area near James B. Dudley High School, where he brutally beat, raped, and attempted to strangle her. Believing she was dead, Alston discarded her body by throwing her off a bridge into a nearby river. Miraculously, the woman survived and provided authorities with a description of her attacker, leading to the creation of a composite sketch.
Upon reviewing photographs of previous offenders, the survivor identified Robert Alston as her assailant. Although he had no prior arrests, Alston had been a person of interest due to the proximity of the crime scenes to his home. He was arrested on January 28, 1994, and subsequently confessed to the murder of Lois Williams, another victim. In 1996, Alston admitted to killing JoAnne Robinson, leading to an additional life sentence without the possibility of parole. Further confessions in 1997 connected him to the murders of Sharon Martin and Shameca Warren, solidifying his responsibility for the series of heinous crimes that had plagued the community.
