UPDATED: Jurors begin deliberations on fate of Tajmon Robinson in murder trial
Jurors in the capital murder trial of Tajmon Robinson began deliberations at 2 p.m. Monday
Robinson, 23, is accused of killing Floyd Kirt, a 51-year-old clerk, during the robbery of a Stripes convenience store on Southwest Parkway at Taft Boulevard in Wichita Falls on Feb. 12, 2022. Robinson was a former employee at the store.
More: Jurors see video of convenience store clerk's murder during the Tajmon Robinson trial
In his closing argument, FIrst Assistant DIstrict Attorney Dobie Kosub said all the evidence points in only one direction.
"We have proved this is the killer. He pulled the trigger three separate times — seven times he stepped over the body like a piece of trash," Kosub said.
Chief Public Defender David Bost reminded the jurors if any had one reasonable doubt they were obligated to find Robinson not guilty.
He said investigators produced no DNA, no weapon and no physical evidence. He also said police did not follow up on other possible suspects, and in an interview, Robinson just parroted things said to him by a detective.
The state concluded its case Monday by calling a forensic pathologist who testified Kirt was shot three times and any one of those shots could have proven fatal.
Prosecutors also called a firearms specialist from the Texas Department of Public Safety who testified about the bullets and cartridges fired at the scene.
Defense lawyers called no witnesses.
More: Convenience store clerk shot, killed in WF Saturday morning
The Wichita County District Attorney's Office could have sought the death penalty in the case but did not. By Texas law, 30th District Court Judge Jeff McKnight is required to sentence Robinson to life in prison without parole if the jury convicts him.
Last week, jurors saw surveillance video and police photos that showed the robbery and killing of Kirt by a man who then rummaged behind the counter and took cigarettes and lottery tickets before leaving the store.
They also watched video of a police interview in which Robinson at first denies and then confesses to the crime, saying he wanted money to leave town.
Robinson was arrested a few days after the robbery during a raid conducted by police at his friend's home on Garfield Street.
That friend, Terique Jones, testified Robinson had stayed at his house after the robbery, and he had seen a gun in his possession. A woman who rented an apartment where Robinson briefly stayed also testified she saw him with a gun.
A former girlfriend, Taesheona Johnson, denied Kosub's contention Robinson had confessed to her that he killed Kirt, despite her testimony to a grand jury that he had admitted to the killing.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Both sides rest in Tajmon Robinson capital murder trial
