Inmate’s family devastated by police decision not to investigate prison death as homicide

A family’s desperate quest for answers hangs in the balance as authorities say they are not yet investigating the death of 23-year-old Chinlee Robinson as a homicide, despite troubling autopsy findings.

 

Robinson died behind bars on January 24, just one day after he was granted bail. His family, still reeling from the sudden loss, now faces an even more painful reality — confusion over how their loved one died while in state custody.

 

“The not knowing is worse than anything,” said a family member. “How does someone die from neck trauma while in a prison cell?”

The post-mortem examination revealed Robinson died from anoxia, trauma to the neck, and cardiac failure.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifton Cabral stated they believe Robinson could have died of natural causes based on their interpretation of the pathologist’s report.

“We’re not really treating it as a homicide at this time,” Cabral explained. “When you look at it, it could be of a natural cause, rather than somebody administering it to him. So, we’re not really looking at it in its entirety as a homicide, but we’re not going to stop.”

Even Superintendent of Prisons Colonel Trevor Pennyfeather expressed his own concerns saying, “very possibly it’s strangulation”.

Police Commissioner Everton Jeffers assured that “the matter is under investigation” and that when completed, they “will determine from the investigation where that matter goes”.

Adding to the family’s distress, the pathologist reportedly warned them that police often fail to test samples collected during autopsies.

When questioned about this, police responded that testing would be done in a “reasonable time” as “several other samples connected to previous ongoing investigations are prepared to be sent abroad as was indicated.”