The jury considered four sentencing options for 25-year-old Robinson on the aggravated murder charge for killing Brenda Scott, 50. Those options were life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, life in prison without the possibility of parole and death.
Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth set Robinson’s formal sentencing for Feb. 27. The jury’s sentence is a recommendation, but the judge cannot impose a stiffer sentence, such as death, of the four options.
On Tuesday, Robinson took the stand and asked the jury to spare his life, saying he is not “the worst of the worst.”
It was the job of the defense to present the jury with enough mitigating factors about Robinson to save his life. Their sentencing verdict indicates they believe the mitigating factors out weighed the aggravating factors of the crime.
On Tuesday, Robinson’s mother, Renee Robinson, and 22-year-old sister, Zaria Robinson, testified about difficulties in their large, blended family, especially when the marriage of Renee and Robbi Sr. began to fall apart. Robinson took the stand to deliver an unsworn statement. Unsworn means he was not questioned by the defense or the prosecution.
“I am sorry that Brenda is dead. I am sorry that I am responsible for her death,” Robinson told the jury. “I made a bad decision, but I am not a bad person. I am not the worst of the worst.”
Robinson, who was described as a “sweet boy who wouldn’t hurt a fly” by his mother, but who struggled later in life around the time she separated from his father, said he felt abandoned by his family, noting no one showed up for court hearings or while he was in jail awaiting trial.
Zaria Robinson testified that in May 2023 her father gave her divorce papers to give to her mother. Zaria lived with her mother, and Robinson with his father.
At that time, Robinson said “I was not happy. I was not happy with a lot of things.”
During the statement to the jury, Robinson made an allegation about the victim and said his father “was not a good man to me.”
Renee Robinson said she did not realize her son had been impacted by altercations between herself and his father, as well as a stabbing incident between a half-brother and Robinson Sr.
Robinson also found his younger sister in the bathroom after she harmed herself.
She said he believes Robinson has mental health issues.
Robinson asked the jury to give him a life sentence with parole so he could one day be back in his sister’s life.
“I ask the jury to please spare my life,” he said. “I know for a fact I am a good human being at heart. I am sorry for what happened.”
Psychologist Dr. Jennifer O’Donnell, who met with Robinson several times for evaluation, testified Robinson has borderline personality disorder.
Assistant Prosecutor Katie Pridemore told the jury to rely on the evidence they heard during the trial to make the sentencing decision.
”You have already found the truth of what happened on May 11, 2025,” Pridemore told the jury. “I am confident the aggravating factors will outweigh the the mitigating factors.”
During trial, Pridemore told the jury Robinson filled water bottles with accelerant, busted into the bedroom where Scott slept, doused her and then lit her on fire on the morning of May 11, 2023.
Scott ran to the bathroom and jumped out the second floor window of the house to get away, but she was unable to save herself.
Scott was a nurse at UC West Chester with grown children. She met and fell in love with Robbi Robinson Sr. They were engaged and made plans to move in together.
“Little Rob,” as his family calls him, was not happy about the engagement.
Robinson also did not want to talk with or interact with Scott.
He “bottled up his anger and took matters into his own hands,” Pridemore said.
That opportunity came when Scott stayed at the Robinson house overnight and Robinson Sr., also a nurse, went to work the next morning.
Robinson put on a heavy “puffer” coat despite the 70-degree weather and carried the accelerant-filled bottles to the bedroom.
He burst into the room, knocked out Scott’s front teeth, then poured acetone and cigarette lighter fluid on the bed and her body, the assistant prosecutor told the jury.
“And then defendant, Robbi Robinson, did the unimaginable. He did the worst of the worst: He purposely set another human being on fire,” Pridemore said. “He took a lighter, flicked the lighter on, he looked at Brenda and set Brenda — her flesh — on fire.”
Evidence presented at trial showed Robinson’s DNA was on a lighter found in the bedroom, and accelerants were found on his clothes and jacket as well as on pieces of Scott’s flesh.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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