Trial under way for man charged in four slayings

A trial has begun in the first of four murder cases against a Compton, Calif., man who North Las Vegas police termed a "serial killer" and who Assistant District Attorney Charles Thompson once referred to as "his own crime wave."

While prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Bryan Keith Robinson, he is not alleged to have been the actual killer of the 19-year-old victim in the case in District Judge Lee Gates' courtroom.

In the current case, the victim, Tracy Kennedy, who was a witness to an earlier murder alleged to have been committed by one of Robinson's friends, was supposed to have testified at a preliminary hearing in North Las Vegas Justice Court. But on Sept. 21, 1996, two days before his scheduled court appearance, Kennedy was gunned down at a North Las Vegas condominium complex.

Deputy District Attorney David Roger said witnesses had indicated that Robinson and Derrick Hilliard knocked Kennedy unconscious before chasing after Jacques Tellis, one of two friends with Kennedy at the time.

Tellis eventually was shot, although he later recovered, and the gunmen turned their attention back to Kennedy. The second friend, Dennis Henderson, was trying to revive Kennedy so they could escape, but the pair returned.

Henderson told police that Hilliard announced, "Blood, it's time for him (Kennedy) to die" and he opened fire, killing the already incapacitated man.

Roger said Henderson told investigators how the gun was then turned on him and, despite pleading that he had nothing to do with the men's dispute, he was shot in the abdomen five times but recovered.

While Hilliard is alleged to have been the gunman and will face a jury at a later trial, Robinson also was charged with murder because of his alleged involvement in the killing.

Robinson, 21, had moved from Compton to North Las Vegas shortly before the four unrelated murders occurred over a three-month period in the Cheyenne Condominium at 3301 Civic Center Driver, near Cheyenne Avenue.

After the Dec. 23, 1996, arrest of Robinson, who goes by the street moniker "B-Mac," North Las Vegas experienced a three-month lull in murders.

North Las Vegas Police Lt. Chris Larotonda said after the arrest that Robinson "does meet the criteria of a serial killer."

The second slaying alleged to have involved Robinson occurred Oct. 10, 1996, when 36-year-old reputed drug user James Sharpe was shot 11 times with two pistols while he was being robbed of $30 hidden in his boot.

Ten days later, 42-year-old Steve Delgado, a member of the U.S. Amateur Boxing Association who was crowned the 1980 North American Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion, was shot twice in the head during a drive-by shooting. His body was left under a tree in the condominium complex.

Police called the shooting drug-related, based in part on Delgado's 1990 conviction in Massachusetts for drug trafficking. But Roger said it may have been nothing more than a random slaying.

Afterward, according to authorities, Robinson is alleged to have gone to a friend's condominium and bragged about killing Delgado. When the friend questioned the claim, Robinson allegedly revealed where the body had been left.

The fourth murder occurred on Nov. 14, 1996, as 17-year-old Germaine McKines was apologizing to Robinson for an earlier altercation over rival gang affiliations.

Roger said that during the conversation, Robinson insisted that McKines, a member of one street gang, join the Robinson's gang.

McKines said he couldn't do that, allegedly prompting Robinson to pull his .40-caliber pistol and shoot McKines six times.

The incident Kennedy is said to have witnessed was the murder of Darnell Watson and shooting of Adonis Rodriguez, who survived. Kennedy's statements to police resulted in the arrest of Robinson's friend, Lonnie Garner.

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