Malachi Robinson was sentenced to 262 months in prison for shooting a gay teen

A Kansas City, Mo., judge has sentenced Malachi Robinson, 25, to 262 months — nearly 22 years — in prison on a hate crimes charge after Robinson admitted he shot a 16-year-old youth, identified only as M.S., because of the younger man’s sexual orientation.

Robinson pleaded guilty on July 7, 2022, to one count of violating the federal Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He has been in federal custody since Aug. 10, 2021, when he was indicted by a federal grand jury. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes handed down the sentence today (Thursday, April 20), according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the sentence “should send a strong message to the perpetrators of these [anti-LGBTQ] hate crimes that they will be held accountable. Bias motivated misconduct has no place in our country, and the Justice Department is committed to working with our federal, state and local partners to vigorously pursue justice for victims targeted because of their sexual orientation.”

U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore with the Western District of Missouri said the “significant penalty brings a measure of justice to the young victim and to the larger LGBTQI+ community.

“To ambush and shoot an unwitting victim who posed no threat to him for no other reason than his sexual orientation is reprehensible behavior that won’t be tolerated,” Moore added. Our community must stand together against acts of violence motivated by hatred for any group of people.”

Special Agent in Charge Charles Dayoub with the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office said the sentence “demonstrates law enforcement’s continued commitment to aggressively investigate and bring to justice those responsible for these heinous crimes. … Every individual has the right to live without fear of being attacked or harassed, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

According to the press release, after a chance meeting at the Kansas City Public Library on May 29, 2019, Johnson and M.S. talked briefly through Facebook before meeting again outside the library. Surveillance footage showed M.S. walking away and Robinson following him then catching up to him before the two crossed the road together. The eventually walked into the Swoop Park area. Robinson suggested they go into a nearby wooded area under the guise of finding a place to have sex.

Prosecutors said around the same time, Robinson texted his girlfriend that he “might shoot this boy” because the teen was gay.

After they went into the wooded area, M.S. changed his mind and turned to leave. That is when Robinson pulled out a Taurus 9mm handgun and shot the teen eight times.

M.S. was able to get up and make his way to sidewalk outside the wooded area, then make his way down the sidewalk before collapsing in front of a nearby apartment complex. A bystander called 911, and police and emergency medical services responded, taking the teenager to a local hospital.

M.S. survived the shooting, spending two weeks in the hospital. He has since undergone numerous surgeries and physical therapy and still has bullets inside his body.

In the days after the shooting, Robinson told several people he had shot M.S. because the teen was gay. He was eventually arrested following an investigation by agents with the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office and officers with the Kansas City Police Department.

— Tammye Nash