A 30-year-old Phoenix man accused of murdering a woman in the presence of her three children at her apartment, and subsequently going ahead to leave the minors with the dead body for a period of five days, was arrested on Thursday.
According to AZFamily, the accused, identified as Andre Daniels, is facing a first-degree murder charge for the May killing of 30-year-old Shavone Robinson. He also faces an additional child abuse charge. The children Daniels allegedly left to their fate for five days after killing Robinson included a four-week-old baby as well as a three-year-old and two-year-old. Daniels shared the one-month-old infant with Robinson.
Police say they reported to the crime scene on May 17 after they received a call about children crying and pleading for food from neighbors from the patio of an apartment complex around 19th Avenue and Camelback Road. The responding officers ended up having to climb up a ladder to the patio – which was on the second floor – after they received no response when they knocked on the door of the apartment in question.
And when they eventually made their way into the apartment, they discovered Robinson’s bloodied body with multiple stab wounds on some parts of her body. The deceased mother’s one-month-old baby was also found close to her. The infant was said to have sustained multiple skull fractures as well as a brain injury. Robinson’s other two children were also dehydrated and vomiting when they were found, AZFamily reported.
Daniels, who is currently being held on a $3 million bond, was confronted by Robinson’s mother during a virtual court appearance on Friday. “You did all of this and left all this for my young babies to see this? And she laid there for who knows how many days? And the kids were there watching their mom?” the victim’s mother asked Daniels while giving her victim representative statement. “What did she do to you to have you take her away from me?”
Robinson’s mother also called Daniels a “very, very sick person.” “I hope you rot. Just rot away,” she added. “You stole that from us. You took her!”
Surveillance footage revealed a person in Robinson’s apartment on May 12 who spent almost 20 minutes inside before leaving. Investigators say Daniels’ cell phone was traced in the said vicinity around the time of the killing, azcentral reported. Robinson’s phone was also said to have taken the route as Daniels’ phone after her device moved out of the apartment. Police say Robinson’s phone subsequently went off.
Investigators also say they believe the motive behind the murder stemmed from Daniels telling Robinson to terminate her pregnancy – which she didn’t. The accused, who also wanted the infant to be given up for adoption, was also involved with another woman and fathered other children. And after Robinson got to know about Daniels’ relationship with the other woman, police say Robinson reached out to her on Facebook to let her know she shared a child with the accused. Robinson was killed four days later.
“I think the death penalty? That’s too easy,” Robinson’s mother told Daniels on Friday. “I would like for you to live until God takes you. I would like you to suffer behind those bars.”
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been set up to help raise funds for Robinson’s funeral expenses as well as her children’s upkeep. “He really destroyed our family,” Robinson’s mother added. “And I don’t know why.”
