Homicide Defendant Pleads Guilty

Thank you for reading D.C. Witness.
Help us continue our mission into 2025 by donating to our end of year campaign.

Donate Now

A defendant initially charged with second-degree murder while armed pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter as part of an agreement with the prosecution.

David Robinson was convicted in the death of Tia Cokley on July 25, 2020.

That morning, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to the 1900 block of 16th Street, SE for the report of a shooting, according to court documents. There,officers found Cokley on a front porch, unconscious and unresponsive, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital, but ultimately pronounced dead. She was 40 years-old.

The Robinson, who is also 40, was arrested that day.

Cokley’s death was one of thirty homicides in DC during July 2020, an 88 percent increase from the previous month. July had more homicides than any other month in 2020, according to D.C. Witness data.

As part of the plea deal, the prosecution agreed to dismiss two other misdemeanor cases: one he picked up in 2019, and another he picked up in 2020. 

Robinson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17. 

Andrea Keckley wrote this article.