Jury weighs fate of defendant in slaying of NLV murder witness

Two years to the day after a 19-year-old man was gunned down on a North Las Vegas street, a District Court jury could decide the the fate today of the man alleged to be one of the killers.

Deliberations continue this morning in the first of four murder cases against former Compton, Calif., resident Bryan Keith Robinson in connection with the death of Tracey Kennedy.

North Las Vegas police pegged Robinson as a "serial killer," although he is not charged as the gunman who ended Kennedy's life.

The jury in District Judge Lee Gates' courtroom began deliberations late Monday but was unable to reach a verdict and chose to return today.

If Robinson is convicted of first-degree murder, the same jury will have to decide if he should be sentenced to prison for life or given the death penalty.

Kennedy was a witness to an earlier murder allegedly committed by one of Robinson's friends and 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 fatally shot 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 shooting and killing him.

During closing arguments Monday, Deputy District Attorney David Roger told the jury that Kennedy's death was what results "when hoodlums gather together and talk about a snitch against one of their homies.

"There was no law and order at 3301 Civic Center Dr.," Roger said. "They were judge, jury and executioner of Tracey Kennedy."

While Hilliard is alleged to have been the gunman and will face a jury at a trial later this month, 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 over a three-month period in the Cheyenne Condominium complex 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."

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