Man acquitted in Fort Worth teen’s murder remains in jail; DA may try him for assault
A man acquitted on a capital murder charge Wednesday remains in jail and is facing separate aggravated assault and aggravated robbery charges.
A jury handed down a not guilty verdict Wednesday in the capital murder trial of Cedric Richardson, 22, of Fort Worth, in connection with the slaying of 17-year-old Breon Robinson.
The same jury also voted not guilty on the lesser charges of aggravated assault and murder in connection with the Robinson slaying, according to Richardson’s defense attorney, Terri Moore.
But there was another man, J’Keiston Levi, who was wounded and survived Robinson’s Jan. 16, 2017 deadly shooting incident. Tarrant County is holding Richardson on a second separate indictment in connection with that shooting.
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Richardson on the capital murder charge on April 19, 2017 and on the aggravated robbery and aggravated assault charges on June 30, 2017.
If convicted of aggravated robbery, Richardson could receive a maximum 99-year or life in prison sentence. A guilty verdict on the aggravated assault charge could yield a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Richardson could face a second trial in the aggravated robbery and aggravated assault case. Moore said she hopes that prosecutors will take a second look at the evidence and decide not to take Richardson through another trial.
“My client was truly freaked out by all of this,” Moore said.
Prosecutors declined to comment because the charges against Richardson are pending.
Richardson was with a friend, Keoddrick Polk, when Robinson was shot and killed, according to law enforcement. Polk and Richardson were students at Tyler Junior College when Robinson was murdered.
In May, a jury convicted Polk of capital murder and sentenced him to life prison without the possibility of parole. Polk is appealing the decision.
The shooting survivor, J’Keiston Levi, testified that Richardson was “just there” and was horrified by the events that led to Robinson’s death, Moore said.
“It all came down to the survivor’s testimony and the video tape,” Moore said.
Richardson and Robinson were friends and they were meeting so that Richardson could sell Robinson a gun, Moore said. Video surveillance footage captured from a convenience store camera showed Richardson and Polk walking in the parking lot, greeting people and getting into a vehicle with Robinson and Levi, Moore said.
Levi testified that Polk shot Robinson while they were in the vehicle, Moore said.
“At that point everyone jumps out of the car and starts running,” Moore said. “Breon is running too, but he only gets like 10 feet before he falls.”
When police arrive, they find Robinson in the vehicle and Levi is shot and both were unresponsive, according to testimony.
“The prosecutors argued that Richardson was guilty under the law of parties and the jury rejected that,” Moore said.
The law of parties states that if two or more people plan and commit one felony and someone commits another felony in the process, anyone involved in the commission of the first felony is responsible for any other felonies committed during that offense, according to Texas law.
For example, if two people plan a robbery and a murder is committed in the course of the robbery, the shooter and the other suspect who planned the robbery are each at fault and responsible for the death of another person, even though only one person pulled the trigger.
A condition of the law requires that for the parties to be at fault, the risk of a bad outcome should be able to be anticipated.
“J’Keiston said Cedric was just there,” Moore said, recalling testimony from the trial. “J’Keiston said that Cedric was not down for that.”
Kyev Tatum, who mentored Richardson while he attended Trimble Tech High School, said he never believed the violent encounter matched what he knew about Richardson.
Tatum visited Richardson in the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday and said he is prayerful that he can get out of jail and be an example for his two-year-old son and his 18-year-old sister.
Richardson said he has been in jail since his arrest after Robinson’s death, according to Tatum.
“Richardson was a receiver,” Tatum said. “He was tall and lanky and he could catch the ball. Because of his athletic ability he had a way out. But unfortunately, he got around the wrong crowd. It broke my heart when I read about his situation.”
Tatum said he also hopes Richardson is released without having to face a second trial.
The court should believe rehabilitation is better than incarceration for young people, Tatum said. The court showed leniency to Ethan Couch, who was sentenced to probation after causing a drunk driving collision that killed four people in 2013. Why would the court not show that same type of leniency toward Richardson, Tatum wondered.
“We have to be careful about throwing away our young misguided men,” Tatum said.
