Robin Nichol Fitzgerald, a 41-year-old mother of three, was killed on June 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C.. On that day, Fitzgerald had just returned home from a Bible study at the House of Praise church, which was located across the street from her apartment building on 51st Street, Northeast. She had lived in that same building for her entire life.
After the Bible study, she was visiting a friend's apartment when the fatal incident occurred.
The shooting was the result of a dispute that did not directly involve Fitzgerald. A man named Aaron Jacobs had been in a verbal argument with his brother on June 20, 2017. Surveillance footage captured Jacobs returning to his brother's apartment with a handgun. While under the influence of PCP, Jacobs fired two shots from a. 357 magnum revolver into a wall in his brother's apartment before leaving.
The bullets penetrated the wall and struck Fitzgerald, who was in the adjacent apartment lying on a bed. She was hit in the torso and buttock, and the wounds proved to be fatal. Medics pronounced her dead at the scene within the hour. It remains unclear whether Jacobs was aware of Fitzgerald's presence in the next apartment when he discharged the weapon.
Aaron Jacobs turned himself in to the authorities hours after Fitzgerald's death. Initially charged with second-degree murder, he later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. During his sentencing, Jacobs expressed remorse, stating, 'What happened that night was a tragic mistake. I never intended to hurt Robin.' He was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her death.
