In Butler County, a man is on trial for capital murder after allegedly setting fire to a woman in 2023.
On Wednesday, the jury heard opening statements as well as witness testimony.
Jury selection began on Monday, and jurors toured the crime scenes Wednesday morning before opening statements.
The prosecution gave its opening statements in court Wednesday before beginning to call the state’s witnesses, as the defense has chosen to reserve its opening statements until after the state rested its case.
Robbi Robinson Jr., 25, is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated arson, and felonious assault for allegedly setting Brenda Scott, 50, on fire.
Watch a summary of what happened at trial Wednesday here:
The jury hears the first testimony in the trial of a man accused of setting a woman on fire in 2023.
Police said Robinson and Scott shared a home and referred to Scott as Robinson’s stepmother.
Prosecutors allege that on May 11, 2023, Robinson filled a container with accelerant, took it to an upstairs bedroom, and doused Scott before setting her on fire. He’s also accused of hitting her in the face and knocking out her teeth.
Fairfield Township police were dispatched to a home on Arroyo Ridge around 10:30 a.m. after receiving reports of a woman on fire in the backyard. Investigators said she jumped from a second-story window while the house was on fire.
Body camera footage released by police shows an officer arriving at the home and finding her:
BODY CAM: Police respond to a woman set on fire and arrest the suspect
“I gotta breathe,” the woman tells cops in body camera footage. “My inhaler is in the house…” “I can’t breathe; he knocked out my teeth.”
After asking who hurt her, the officer rushes to the front of the house and arrests Robinson right away. Robinson tells the officer, “I don’t know what happened.”
Scott was airlifted to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, but she died of her injuries a month later.
Dennis Williams, a neighbor, found Scott laying in the backyard and called 911.
Williams described it as a typical day of working from home until he noticed his dog barking in an unusual way. This led him outside, where he discovered Scott laying in the grass and yelling for help.
You can watch the full day of trial here:
“She had just terrible, terrible burns on — I mean I’m no expert, but at least half her body — I mean terrible burns,” Williams told reporters. “She wasn’t still on fire at that point, but there was a little bit of flame next to her that was dying.”
Robinson’s trial has been delayed several times since Scott’s murder. Robinson’s competency was first questioned in March in March after a psychologist claimed he was “the Supreme Being,” according to court records.
In the formal motion, defense attorneys Hawkins and David Brewer stated that Mr. Robinson was so delusional that Dr. Jenny O’Donnell was unable to complete her evaluation. Mr. Robinson claimed to be ‘the Supreme Being’ and stated that the court had no authority over him.”
Then, in November, Robinson was expected to accept a plea deal that would have removed the death penalty from the case in exchange for a guilty plea. However, in court that day, he ultimately rejected the deal.
A man has been arrested for setting a woman on fire.
