Fairbanks Man Sentenced To 90 Years for the Murder of His Co-Defendant from Prior Armed Robbery

May 8, 2026

(Fairbanks, AK) - Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Earl Peterson sentenced 25-year-old Kevin Robinson to 90 years imprisonment for the murder of 21-year-old Robert Rones in 2022.

On May 27, 2022, the Fairbanks Police Department received a report that two vehicles chased and then blocked in a third vehicle in south Fairbanks and that a man exited the lead vehicle and fired thirteen rounds at the victim who was seated inside the blocked-in vehicle. The victim, who was unarmed at the time, was later identified as Robert Rones. Rones was struck six times from the shots and died in his vehicle before EMS arrived on scene.

Through extensive police investigation, Robinson was identified as Rones' killer. The investigation also revealed that three days prior to the murder, Robinson, while driving, recorded himself chasing Rones' vehicle and during the chase stated, "Robert Rones running like a b*tch. Why you running like a b*tch my baby? I'm gonna get your *ss." During their investigation, police also uncovered a snap chat audio clip that was made two days prior to the murder in which Robinson, discussing his earlier chase of Rones, told a friend, "I'm so f*cking mad I don't have a gun…you don't understand, I was going to be at peace."

After determining the identity of Rones' killer, Fairbanks Police Department detectives contacted Robinson and interviewed him. During the interview, Robinson admitted to being angry at Rones because he snitched on him to the police in an earlier case that involved both of them attempting to rob a Fairbanks McDonalds at gunpoint. In the same interview, Robinson, after first denying to the police that he had anything do with the murder, later changed his story and said that he shot Rones in self-defense. This claim was made only after being confronted with evidence that directly tied him to the murder, however. Robinson also told detectives that Rones ruined his life and admitted that prior to the murder, he had told people that he "wanted to smoke [Rones] because he was a punk…on the day [he] ever got to see him."

At the time of Rones' murder, Robinson was on felony probation, having been released from jail in the armed robbery case in August of 2020.

Trial in the matter was held in April of last year. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts of the indictment - Murder in the First Degree and Misconduct involving Weapons in the Third Degree.

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Baldock and Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gonsalves, who both prosecuted the case, asked the court to impose a sentence of 104 years of imprisonment - the maximum sentence authorized by law. They argued that the sentence was appropriate due the murder being premeditated, due to it being committed against a person that provided evidence related to a prior offense committed by Robinson, due to Robinson having a prior criminal history that includes conduct involving aggravated assaultive behavior, and due to Robinson being on felony probation at the time that he committed the murder. Robinson, through his attorney, requested the court to impose a sentence of 30 years of imprisonment.

After hearing from both the prosecution and the defense, Judge Peterson imposed a sentence of 90 years of imprisonment for the First-Degree Murder conviction and imposed a sentence of 4 years of imprisonment for the Misconduct involving Weapons the Third Degree conviction (time to run concurrently). In his sentencing remarks, Judge Peterson found Robinson to be a worst offender, he indicated that Robinson committed one of the most serious murders imaginable, he indicated that the need to confine Robinson was of extreme importance to the court, and he indicated that the need to deter Robinson and others all required that a significant sentence be imposed.

Deputy District Attorney Andrew Baldock and Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gonsalves thank the Fairbanks Police Department for their hard work in investigating the crimes and thank paralegal Jaboha Smothers for the assistance she provided in readying the case for trial.

CONTACT: District Attorney Joe Dallaire at [email protected] or (907) 451-5970.

# # #

Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at [email protected] or (907) 269-6269.

Due to resource constraints, we are no longer posting links to the briefs. Please refer to the Supreme Court's Docket Search or PACER for all federal briefs. Any briefs that are not otherwise publicly available are available upon request through [email protected].