Giovanni Michael "Mike" Robinson was a 32-year-old White/Caucasian male from Ontario, Canada, who was killed shortly after midnight on September 24, 2025, while visiting Wisconsin for a golf trip. Robinson was a new father and had traveled to the Sheboygan area with relatives and friends for a father-son golf event. Earlier on September 23, he had accomplished a memorable milestone by making his first hole-in-one while golfing at Whistling Straits. That evening, Robinson and three companions went into Sheboygan Falls to celebrate, eventually spending time at Falls Tap before leaving around midnight.
After leaving the tavern, Robinson's group was trying to return to their hotel in the Village of Kohler but was unable to secure an Uber. Outside, they encountered a man completing a DoorDash delivery in a black Ford Escape and asked whether he would drive them back to the hotel for cash. The driver was later identified by investigators as Luis E. Cruz Burgos of Sheboygan. According to the criminal complaint, witnesses gave somewhat differing accounts of the amount Cruz Burgos requested for the ride, with figures including $60 per person and, in another recollection, $40 total. The group ultimately decided the price was unacceptable and began walking instead.
Cruz Burgos later told investigators that the encounter had not developed into a physical confrontation. He claimed members of the group called him "stupid" and that one person made an obscene hand gesture toward him as he drove away. He acknowledged making a U-turn and passing the group again, but maintained that he did not have a firearm and did not shoot anyone. Witnesses described something very different. According to the complaint, after Robinson and his companions crossed Broadway Street and continued east on Monroe Street, a black vehicle believed to be the same Ford Escape came back toward them. A witness described the vehicle slowing near the group before a single gunshot was fired and the SUV sped away.
At approximately 12:08 a.m., Sheboygan Falls police were dispatched to the 600 block of Monroe Street near the Sheboygan River. Robinson had been struck by a single bullet in the chest. His brother-in-law and others attempted to help him, and emergency responders provided life-saving treatment, but Robinson died at the scene. The autopsy determined that the fatal injury was a single gunshot wound to the middle of his chest. What had begun as a celebratory night following a golf outing had turned into a homicide within minutes of the group leaving the tavern.
Investigators began collecting surveillance recordings from businesses throughout downtown Sheboygan Falls. Video showed Robinson's group interacting with someone in a dark SUV and later showed a similar vehicle traveling rapidly east on Monroe Street around the time of the shooting. Authorities located a black Ford Escape registered to Cruz Burgos. When questioned, Cruz Burgos confirmed that he had been working for DoorDash that night, acknowledged encountering Robinson's group and admitted driving past them again after making a U-turn. He continued to deny possessing or firing a gun. Cruz Burgos also told investigators that he had previously possessed firearms but was prohibited from having them because of a 2019 court order connected to a domestic incident in Florida.
On September 26, 2025, police arrested Cruz Burgos after multiple law-enforcement agencies assisted in executing a search warrant in the 2300 block of Kroos Court in Sheboygan. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree reckless homicide in Robinson's death, a felony carrying a potential maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. At his initial court appearance on September 29, a court commissioner ordered Cruz Burgos held on $2 million cash bail. Prosecutors argued that the allegations described an exceptionally serious and violent act, while the defense emphasized that the charge had not been proven and objected to the size of the bail.
The prosecution continued into the following months. During an October 29, 2025 preliminary hearing, a Sheboygan County judge concluded that prosecutors had established sufficient probable cause for the case to proceed toward trial. Cruz Burgos subsequently entered a not-guilty plea. The case did not quickly reach trial, however, as attorneys continued reviewing a substantial amount of discovery, including forensic material and law-enforcement body-camera evidence. Questions were also raised during later proceedings about body-camera footage from Sheboygan County Sheriff's deputies that was reportedly missing or destroyed, an issue the prosecution said it was investigating.
As of the latest publicly available update on September 11, 2026, Cruz Burgos remained in custody on the $2 million cash bail and continued to face the first-degree reckless homicide charge. His attorneys were still reviewing discovery, and no completed trial or conviction had been reported. The prosecution's case therefore remained unresolved, with Cruz Burgos legally presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty in court. Public reporting continued to identify him as the defendant accused of firing the shot that killed Robinson following the failed attempt to arrange a ride back to Kohler.
