A Calumet City man was found not guilty Friday in Lake County Court in the killing of a Gurnee-area man during a 2020 drug rip-off.
Jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday before acquitting Dalance Robinson, 23, of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Elliot Jones, 21, of the 36900 block of Grandwood Avenue, on May 30, 2020.
Robinson was ordered released from the Lake County jail Friday afternoon by Judge James Booras, who oversaw the trial, Robinson’s attorney Jed Stone said.
“Dalance Robinson has been in jail for over two years, seven months and four days,” Stone said after the acquittal. “That time can never be given back to him. The state wrongfully charged Mr. Robinson. I had hoped that Lake County’s era of wrongful prosecutions was behind us.”
Jones, police said, was fatally shot outside his home when he went outside to buy drugs from people who had driven to his neighborhood to complete the exchange. However, after Jones gave the men $150, they began to drive off. Jones ran alongside for a short distance, holding onto the vehicle, before someone inside shot him, authorities said.
Robinson was one of three men charged in the shooting, and prosecutors said at trial that he was the one who shot Jones.
One of the men in the car, Donterrance Nixon, testified Wednesday that Robinson was the gunman. Nixon’s credibility was the key issue Stone seized on in closing arguments Friday when he told jurors that Nixon was a “serial liar who cannot be trusted.”
“He lied to you over, and over, and over again,” Stone said.
Nixon, who is serving a 12-year sentence for armed robbery, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in a negotiated plea that included a provision that he testify.
Nixon, Stone contended, actually shot Jones and then made up a story to shift blame onto Robinson, whom he knew from a job at a pizza place. Prosecutors failed to prove Robinson was even in the car that night conclusively, Stone argued.
But prosecutors argued that phone records and security videos backed up Nixon’s testimony.
“At key points, the evidence supports what happened,” Assistant State’s Attorney Don Tyer told jurors.
Nixon and Jordae Wilson of Waukegan were taken into custody shortly after the shooting. Robinson was arrested months later. Wilson, whom authorities say was driving the car, is awaiting trial.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office released a statement Friday saying the verdict was a difficult result for Jones’ family.
“We respect the jury’s verdict but disagree with it,” it said. “We cannot have any other comment at this time because of the pending case against the third co-defendant. We will continue to support the family throughout the next offender’s case.”