On the evening of May 31, 2018, Antonio Robinson, an 18-year-old Black/African American male, was walking with a friend in Stamford, Connecticut. A former co-captain of the Stamford High School football team, Robinson was just weeks away from receiving his high school diploma. Shortly before 8:45 p.m., he and his friend were heading to the Chester Addison Community Center to play basketball, a path that took them underneath the Interstate 95 overpass on West Avenue.
In the tunnel, their path crossed with three other young men, an encounter that would abruptly turn fatal.
The meeting between the two groups was brief. After a short interaction, one of the three, 15-year-old Sirus Dixon, pulled out a handgun. As Robinson and his friend turned to flee, Dixon fired, striking Robinson in the back. Despite being wounded, Robinson continued to run out from under the bridge and onto Baxter Avenue, where he ultimately collapsed next to a parked car. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead that evening. The killing was described by investigators as a senseless act, possibly stemming from a feud related to the different neighborhoods the young men lived in.
Stamford police quickly identified the three suspects that night, finding them hiding in the backyard of a property on Havemeyer Lane. The three were Sirus Dixon, 15, Karl Davis, 17, and Jimmy Jean-Baptiste, 18. Initially charged with trespassing, their charges were soon upgraded. Dixon was charged with murder, while Davis and Jean-Baptiste were charged with criminal liability for murder, later amended to accessory to murder. The investigation revealed that the three had a long-standing feud with Robinson.
The legal process unfolded over the following years. In July 2022, a jury found Sirus Dixon, the shooter, not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. In October 2022, he was sentenced to 37 years in prison. His two accomplices, Karl Davis and Jimmy Jean-Baptiste, accepted plea deals. They pleaded guilty to charges of negligent homicide and second-degree hindering of prosecution. In October 2022, both Davis and Jean-Baptiste were sentenced to six-year prison terms, suspended after four years served, followed by three years of probation.
