EVANSVILLE – Davontai Jones-Robinson, 25, of Evansville, Indiana, and Trinity Taylor, 27, of Prattville, Alabama, were sentenced to federal prison late yesterday for the armed robbery of three different convenience stores. The robberies took place in under fourteen hours on August 13 and 14, 2020 in Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties. The men were each sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison for federal offenses including commercial robbery, conspiracy, and related firearms offenses.
As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted that on the evening of August 13, 2020, Taylor drove Jones-Robinson to a Kwik Stop convenience store in Evansville. Jones-Robinson entered the store with a rifle, brandished the firearm at the clerk, and stole an unknown quantity of cash and cigarettes from the business. During the robbery, Taylor circled the store in the getaway car he had rented from Alabama three days earlier. After the robbery, Jones-Robinson returned to the car with the rifle and robbery proceeds and fled with Taylor. The two men split the proceeds and, according to Jones-Robinson, spent them at the Tropicana Casino.
Hours later, early in the morning of August 14, 2020, Taylor drove Jones-Robinson to a Circle K convenience store in Evansville. Again, Jones-Robinson entered the store with a rifle and brandished the firearm at the clerk. Jones-Robinson demanded that the clerk open the cash register and then stole an unknown quantity of cash and cigarettes. Taylor again waited nearby in the getaway car. After the second robbery, the two men fled from the scene together and split the proceeds of the robbery.
Several hours after the second robbery, in the late morning of August 14, 2020, Taylor drove Jones-Robinson to a Chuckles convenience store in Elberfield, Warrick County. Again, Jones-Robinson entered the store with a rifle and brandished the firearm at the clerk. Taylor again waited nearby in the getaway car. After the third robbery, the two men again fled from the scene together and split the proceeds of the robbery.
That afternoon, law enforcement officers located Taylor driving the car he had rented and used as the getaway car in each of the three robberies. At the time, Taylor was in possession of nearly $300 in U.S. currency.
Very early in the morning of August 15, 2020, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at an Evansville residence shared by Jones-Robinson, Taylor, and another individual. Investigators seized clothing apparently worn by Jones-Robinson during the three robberies. Around the same time, law enforcement officers located Jones-Robinson. Jones-Robinson disclosed the location of the rifle he used to commit the robberies, and investigators seized it along with cash from Jones-Robinson’s car that were a portion of the proceeds of the robberies.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and FBI Indianapolis Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations Indiana Violent Crime Task Force investigated the case. The Evansville Police Department, Warrick County Sheriff’s Department, and the Indiana State Police also provided valuable assistance. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young. As part of the sentence, Judge Young ordered that the defendants be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following their release from federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger who prosecuted this case.