Police investigating motive for slaying of Black Gay Pride organizer

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta detectives tried Thursday to sort out the hours and moments before the body of an organizer of the city’s annual Black Gay Pride celebration was left in the middle of the road.

His family and friends say there was no way Durand Robinson was targeted because he was too nice and accommodating, so they suspect it was random.

“This guy couldn’t possibly have had any enemies,” said Prince Robinson, one of Durand Robinson’s younger brothers.

Police have not offered any motives for the shooting death, and the report filed by the first officer called to Hadlock Street in southwest Atlanta around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday offered scant details.

“Durand Robinson III [was] lying in the roadway non-responsive,” according to the report. “According to residents interviewed on the scene, they heard an argument, then gunshots with an unknown vehicle speeding off.”

Robinson, co-owner of the popular gay DeKalb County nightclub Traxx, was shot in the chest.

Police said they are looking at all possible motives for the shooting — carjacking, robbery, someone he angered at the bars he operated or Robinson’s role as an organizer of events for the gay community.

Prince Robinson said he was told his brother was accosted in the Greenbriar Mall and driven to Hadlock Street and thrown from the car.

“The Atlanta Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating all possibilities concerning the shooting death of Durand Robinson,” APD spokesman Carlos Campos told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “It has reached no conclusions or made any determinations on whether this case will be classified as a ‘bias crime.’ Homicide presently has no suspects or significant information on a motive, but is actively pursuing several leads. We cannot comment or speculate further, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.”

Family and friends said Robinson retired from Delta Air Lines after 28 years and then went into event planning and the bar business.

The 14th annual Black Gay Pride he helped organized, for example, is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to metro Atlanta over Labor Day weekend.

While the 50-year-old Decatur man never married, he was raising five nieces, one the daughter of a brother who died and the others children of a sister.

“He had a crowded house,” Prince Robinson said of his brother, who was the oldest of six. “He was never married. I do think he was in the process of getting married [to] … his girlfriend of 2 1/2 years. He comes from a Christian background. A community activist. Never drinks. Never smokes. Didn’t have an enemy in the world.”

Monica Banks said she worked with Robinson to create several events mostly tailored for the lesbian community — Girls Night Out and Traxx Girls.

“He was everyone’s friend,” Banks said. “When you walk away from him, you’re smiling.”