FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A grand jury formally charged Robbi Robinson Jr. with aggravated murder with a death penalty specification after he allegedly set a woman on fire in Fairfield Township.
Robinson initially faced charges of attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault and aggravated arson, but when 50-year-old Brenda Scott died from her injuries one month after the May 11 incident, it turned into a homicide case.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser pointed to elements of the crime that meet the death penalty specification, including prior calculation, alleging Scott was splashed with an accelerant in an upstairs bedroom and punched in the face by Robinson before she jumped from the window while on fire.
Last week, Robinson was deemed competent to stand trail.
His next court hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 6 for a plea or trial setting.
Investigators said Scott jumped from the second-story window while on fire. Body camera footage released from first responders showed an officer discovering Scott in the back yard of the home.
After asking who hurt her, the officer runs to the front of the house and immediately takes 23-year-old Robbi Davon Robinson Jr. into custody. Robinson tells the officer, "I don't know what happened."
A neighbor, Dennis Williams, was the one to find the woman laying in her backyard and called 911.
Williams said it was a normal day of working from home, until he heard his dog barking in an unusual way. This got him outside, where he found Scott laying on the grass and yelling for help.
"I said, 'what happened, what happened?' and she said, 'he set me on fire,'" Williams said.
He said he could immediately tell she was badly injured.
"She had just terrible, terrible burns on—I mean I'm no expert, but at least half her body—I mean terrible burns," Williams said. "She wasn't still on fire at that point, but there was a little bit of flame next to her that was dying."
At the time, he said he wasn't thinking, he was just doing what needed to be done.
"Pretty traumatizing to see and everything that happened, but again I'm glad I was in a position to help," Williams said.
Police said Robinson lived in the home and referred to the victim as his stepmother.
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