JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Three years ago today, Keeven Robinson died following a chase with four undercover narcotics deputies with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
It happened as they tried to arrest the 22-year-old in connection with a drug investigation. Robinson’s death was ruled a homicide, but in July the district attorney's office announced they would not seek criminal charges.
On the 3-year anniversary, Dominique and Demone Robinson and Kaitlynn Moran walk the street where their cousin took his last breath, they can’t help but get an uneasy feeling.
“Emotional. Heartbroken still. Just distraught for myself and for my family,” said Moran, speaking with WWLTV’s Paul Dudley on Monday.
On May 10, 2018 -- Robinson was cornered by unmarked cars while he was in his car at Shell Station off of Jefferson Highway. He avoided the undercover deputies' cars, but would eventually crash a few hundred feet away on Labarre Place. There was a brief foot chase that led to a backyard and then a struggle with the four deputies.
The death was ruled a homicide.
The cause of death was compressional asphyxia. According to the Jefferson Parish Coroner, Robinson suffered "significant traumatic injuries to the neck.” But over the summer the Jefferson Parish district attorney office issued a 27-page report saying the office would not be seeking criminal charges against Justin Brister, Gary Bordelon, Jason Spadoni and David Lowe, who in the report says he remembers “kneeling on Robinson's head.”
“When you go back and read each officer's statement, they are telling you what they did to him,” Moran said. “I don’t understand how you could not be prosecuting people who are blatantly telling you that they murdered someone.”
In a statement in July, District Attorney Paul Connick wrote that “the State cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of any of the agents rose to the level of criminal conduct.”
The Robinson family doesn’t buy it and they say they want the criminal case reopened and reviewed by a different district attorney. According to Kenn Barnes Jr., a lawyer not connected to the Robinson case, that might be difficult.
“A district attorney from outside that jurisdiction is very unlikely. What you are more likely to have is the attorney general of the state of Louisiana saying we want to open an investigation into this," Barnes said.
Barnes also says the case could get reopened if there was a new witness or new compelling evidence like video, something that was so helpful in the Derek Chauvin trial.
“I feel like if Keeven would have been recorded as George Floyd was, we would have probably got some similar results," Demone Robinson said. "That goes to the issues of the body cameras."
In the wake of Floyd’s killing, there were numerous gatherings where protesters in Jefferson Parish demanded the department get body cameras to prevent deaths like Robinson’s. This family hopes those same people will write the attorney general to reopen the case. They know it’s a long shot but aren’t giving up hope.
“As long as we have that drive and that support and we have each other's back we can get anything done,” Moran said.
There is a civil lawsuit pending against the officers involved. We reached out to JPSO for a comment but did not hear back. As of this summer, two of the deputies were still on desk duty, pending an internal investigation. The other two are no longer with the department.