(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the guilty jury verdict to a murder committed by 27 year-old Dimitri Robert.
“The jury has spoken and justice has been served,” said Tierney. “This verdict will not bring the victim back but we hope it brings some form of comfort to his family despite the fact that the defendant is a sibling and was responsible for committing this senseless and brutal act.”
The evidence at trial established that on October 1, 2019, Robert fatally shot his brother, Devontay Robert while the teen sat in the passenger seat of their mother’s rented 2019 Nissan Altima parked just outside of a relative’s home in Coram. He is charged with Second Degree Murder and three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon.
The defendant had been involved in a child custody dispute and blamed his own mother for helping the mothers of his five children keep them away from him. According to trial evidence, Robert said, “If I can’t see my kids, you are not going to see your kids.”
Suffolk Police officers were responding to the home on a domestic dispute and had just arrived to the scene when Robert ran over to the vehicle and shot his brother twice in the head. Robert was chased and arrested at the scene.
The trial, which lasted a little more than two weeks, was heard before the Hon. Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro. Robert is scheduled to return to court on May 24th for sentencing. He faces 25 years to life.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Francis X. Schroeder of the Homicide Bureau.