Twelve years ago, little Abdur Robinson’s life changed forever.
Only 5 years old at the time, Robinson was not old enough to understand what it meant that his father had been shot to death in the family’s Cobb County house.
“I was really young, so I didn’t really grasp it right away,” Robinson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It took me a few years to feel the grief.”
Robinson will graduate from a New Jersey high school this spring and plans to study film and media arts when he starts college in the fall. Mature beyond his years, Robinson has big plans for his future.
But before that, Robinson and his family still need answers. They want to know who shot a 24-year-old father, husband and son, along with the man’s younger half-brother, and left them to die inside a Marietta house on Jan. 4, 2001.
No one has ever been charged with the deaths of Abdur Rahim Robinson and his younger half-brother, Yasiah Robinson. But one Marietta police detective believes it’s a case that can be solved, despite the years that have passed.
“These victims are very real and the family is still enduring this,” Detective Shane Merritt said. “We’re hoping that’s enough to spark interest with the public.”
Merritt has a personal interest in solving the case, too. He was a rookie police officer when he responded to the Stokes Avenue home on Jan. 6, 2001. That was the day Abdur Rahim Robinson’s family made the horrific discovery.
“His friend called and asked if we had heard from them,” Robinson’s mother, Imecca Wright, told The AJC. “That made me feel like something was wrong.”
Wright, her husband at the time, and her teenage daughter drove to the Marietta house where Robinson lived with his wife, son, and half-brother. Wright’s daughter climbed through a window to get inside the house, then opened a back door.
The family’s worst fears were confirmed, Wright said. The news was so hard to believe, Wright said she was in denial for a year.
When reality set in, Wright wanted to know who was responsible. She had her suspicions and shared them with police, but there was never enough evidence to charge anyone, Merritt said. Some drugs were found inside the home, but Merritt said it would be premature to say the deaths were drug-related.
Wright believes whoever is responsible knew that little Abdur was spending the weekend with his grandmother and his mother was out of town, meaning the two men would be home alone.
“That’s why I think it was someone who knew them, Wright said. “They knew everybody was going to be gone.”
Wright’s family and Merritt hope that since so many years have passed, someone will be ready to come forward with information to solve the case.
“We’re hoping that enough time has gone by, that people are talking,” Merritt said. “In cold cases, any fear that a witness may have gets diminished. They’re more likely to talk.”
Every summer, Wright throws a party for her son’s birthday to keep his memory alive. She says her life was shattered by the death of her son, who has missed out on watching his son grow up.
The family is ready for closure. And police are, too.
“We’re optimistic,” Merritt said. “The case is a solvable case. We just need that one person to call with information.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Merritt at 770-794-5324 or the tip line at 770-794-6990.
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