2 tragedies strike same Minnesota family in 2018
(KMSP) - Kerin Robinson and partner Jeff Daleiden have had a nightmarish year.
“It’s frustrating,” said Robinson. “It’s heartbreaking to lose Ahkeem not even nine months later to lose Antonio.”
“It’s just not fair,” said Daleiden. “It’s not fair.”
Robinson’s two boys, her only two children, are gone.
Her oldest, 22-year-old Antonio Robinson, died in what appears to be a drowning mishap aboard this pontoon boat last weekend in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Her youngest, Ahkeem Robinson, 18, was stabbed to death in a confrontation on Fremont Avenue in North Minneapolis early on the morning of Jan. 1.
“It’s not one day that goes by that I don’t think of him,” said Robinson. “I haven’t been able to work. I tried. He was a respectful young man. He wasn’t going to hurt nobody.”
Authorities in Wisconsin believe the death of Antonio was a tragic accident. He couldn’t swim and perished with a camping buddy in Lake Wissota.
But Robinson and Daleiden still can’t find any closure in Ahkeem’s death some 230 days earlier.
Ahkeem was found with life-threatening stab wounds near a weathered memorial on New Year’s morning. He is listed as the city’s first homicide victim of 2018.
“He was stabbed. He was murdered,” said Robinson. “It was not a good time. What was he thinking lying on the cold sidewalk? Was he wanting his mom? What was going through his head?”
Ahkeem’s mother remains shocked that there have been no charges in the case.
She explains that police have located the suspect who stabbed her son and had the suspect in custody months ago.
Investigators allowed her to watch surveillance video of the altercation, pointing to a box cutter as the deadly weapon, but the suspect is claiming self-defense.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office sent the case back to police requesting more evidence or proof that a crime occurred.
“Ahkeem was murdered, OK?” said Daleiden. “Ahkeem did not have a weapon. I don’t care what kind of words were exchanged. The guy still murdered him. Bottom line.”