Jermaine Robinson told police he and two others intended to rob the “old man” — 59-year-old Hendric Robinson — of his gun.
Co-defendant Keiont Martin, 20, and another man — only identified as “shooter #2” — were supposed to draw their weapons at Hendric Robinson, while Jermaine would take his sole gun.
It didn’t go as planned. For one thing, they didn’t realize Hendric Robinson had two guns, court records show.
Before they could rob him, Hendric Robinson “turned around and started shooting,” an affidavit states.
Jermaine Robinson, 20, of Gary, Martin’s relative and an alleged accomplice, was charged Friday with murder, attempted armed robbery and attempted robbery in Hendric Robinson’s death. He is in custody, held without bail. It is not immediately known if there is any relation between him and the victim.
Martin was charged earlier this week.
According to the probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched on the afternoon of Oct. 19 to the 400 block of Richard Gordon Hatcher Boulevard in Gary, where a man had been shot in the torso. Hendric Robinson, 59, was later pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. in the Methodist Hospitals Northlake emergency room, according to a news release from the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
Police obtained security footage from a nearby residence, which showed audio and video from the apparent shooting. The video showed Robinson walking slowly with a cane past a house in the alley when he’s approached by a man in a black hooded sweater trying to talk to him, court records state. The pair walk further down the alley, and eventually out of view of the camera. But the audio track continues and an exchange of gunfire is heard, the affidavit states.
Police found numerous spent shell casings from three different guns, including a .762-caliber rifle and a .40-caliber handgun in the backyard and alley of a nearby house. Police suspect there were at least two people who shot at Robinson, court records state.