Mother of Jamarion Robinson meets with Fulton County DA
Protesters gathered at Liberty Plaza in Downtown Atlanta to call for justice in the death of Jamarion Robinson on April 1, 2021. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - The mother of Jamarion Robinson said she feels hopeful about the future of the case against the officer involved in the death of her son as the fifth anniversary of the incident approaches.
Jamarion Robinson was struck by 76 of the 110 shots fired in his girlfriend’s East Point apartment by members of a police fugitive task force in August 2016. That task force included officers from various police departments and the U.S. Marshals Office serving a warrant for his arrest.
Police said they obtained the warrant after the Tuskegee University student allegedly fired at an Atlanta police officer during a prior encounter days earlier. The task force was attempting to serve the warrant on the afternoon of Aug. 5, 2016, at the Parkside at Camp Creek off Washington Road. At least a dozen well-armed law enforcement officials in body armor were caught on camera by a bystander going into the apartments after Robinson refused to come out, followed by the sounds of gunshots.
Monteria Robinson, Jamarion Robinson's mother, talks to the media following a meeting with the Fulton County DA on August 9, 2021. (FOX 5)
But his mother, Monteria Robinson has maintained her son suffered from schizophrenia and insists the officers were not trained to execute search warrants for people with psychiatric conditions. She also has said that among the 16 officers present, none of them wore body cameras.
Robinson's mother met with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Monday afternoon. The DA has yet to comment about the meeting, but Robinson said she walked out of the meeting hopeful.
"I am hopeful today. I am thankful. I appreciate all the hard work that her... because this is new to her, you know, she's new in office and so they had to take this over from the last DA and so there's a lot of work that her team, you know, has to do and she's only been in office for a short period of time. And all I can say is that I am happy with the conclusion of the meeting today," said Robinson.
Former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard had said the case was a priority for his office. His office even filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department to obtain federal records about the incident. The DA’s office said a grand jury was scheduled to hear the case against four of those officers in March 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic.
Willis had said her office would be just as aggressive and to seek criminal charges against those task force members if that's where the investigation took them.
Robinson was majoring in biology at Tuskegee University and was also a member of the football team before his death.
Robinson would have turned 31 this past April.
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