In the small agricultural town of Hastings, Florida, known as the "Potato Capital of Florida," Wanda Gail Robinson was a mother of three trying to navigate life's challenges. Remembered by her family as a loving person caught in difficult circumstances, the 34-year-old woman's life was cut tragically short in the fall of 1993, marking the beginning of a series of brutal crimes that would grip the communities of northern Florida with fear.
Both she and the man who would take her life lived in the same rural area, their paths destined to cross in a fatal encounter.
On Monday, November 22, 1993, Wanda’s body was discovered in a wooded area in St. Johns County. An investigation by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office began immediately, revealing she had been strangled to death. Her clothing was found discarded nearby, a detail that would later become a sinister hallmark of her killer. Despite interviewing family and acquaintances in the close-knit community, detectives struggled to find solid leads. For months, Wanda’s case remained unsolved, a painful and unanswered question for her grieving family.
The investigation into Wanda’s murder gained momentum as more women fell victim in the surrounding area. In February 1994, Christina Cooper was found killed in neighboring Putnam County, and the body of Katherine Walker was discovered in Hastings in early March. The similarities were striking: all the victims were Black women, all had been strangled, and their bodies were left in remote, rural locations. Law enforcement agencies from different counties began to suspect they were dealing with a serial killer who was preying on vulnerable women.
The breakthrough in the case came not from the homicide investigations in Florida, but from an unrelated arrest across state lines. On September 22, 1994, a man named Ervin Elroy Cherry was arrested for auto theft in Savannah, Georgia, where he was staying at a Salvation Army shelter. This seemingly routine arrest was the key that unlocked the mystery of the murders. As investigators delved into Cherry's background, they connected him to the string of killings in northern Florida. Cherry had a prior criminal record, having been released from prison in the early 1990s after serving time for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Extradited to Florida, Ervin Elroy Cherry was charged with the murders of Wanda Robinson and Christina Cooper. In January 1995, he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. For years, he remained the primary suspect in Katherine Walker's death, but it was not until 2010 that the case was officially closed. While already serving his life sentences, Cherry confessed to killing Walker during an argument over a drug deal. He was convicted of her murder as well and received a third consecutive life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Ervin Elroy Cherry’s killing spree ended with his capture, bringing a measure of justice for the three women he murdered. He is currently incarcerated at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, where he will spend the remainder of his life. For the family of Wanda Gail Robinson, the legal outcome closed a chapter of uncertainty and pain, but it could never fill the void left by the loss of their loving mother. Her death remains a somber reminder of a violent period in the region's history and of a life taken far too soon.
