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Judge: Davis To Die For Slaying

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By LADALE LLOYD of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 1999

TAMPA — A Hillsborough judge gives strong consideration to the cruelty of Vicki Robinson's 1998 murder in sentencing Adam Davis to death.

Hands and feet shackled, Adam Davis lowered his eyes to the floor as a judge ordered that he die for the 1998 murder of his girlfriend's mother.

That was Davis' only reaction Friday as Hillsborough Circuit Judge Cynthia Holloway recalled how he strangled Vicki Robinson then injected her with bleach before stabbing her to death inside her Carrollwood home.

"I feel sorry for the guy but on the other hand what he did was completely reprehensible," said Robinson's boyfriend, Jim Englert.

A jury convicted the 21-year-old former drifter of first-degree murder and auto theft last month. The panel then voted 7-5 to recommend Davis die for the crime.

Unlike the emotion he showed during his trial, Davis appeared stoic as Holloway pronounced the sentence in a hushed courtroom. A private investigator who was with Davis during his trial stood with him and rubbed his back when the sentence was read.

"I'm sure he was hopeful he would get a life sentence, but I don't think this came as a big surprise," said Diane Fernandez, another private investigator who worked on his case.

Death cases in Florida are automatically appealed.

Davis' girlfriend, Valessa Robinson, 16, and a friend, Jon Whispel, 20, were also charged in the June 27, 1998, slaying.

Whispel pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder. He agreed to testify against the other two in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence. Valessa Robinson is scheduled to go on trial Feb. 14.

Davis' penalty lawyer, Rick Terrana, asked the judge to consider giving Davis life in part because of his age, because he had been taking LSD and because Davis' father was killed when Davis was 14.

The lawyer also noted that Davis' codefendants do not face as harsh a punishment. Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Valessa Robinson because she was 15 when her mother was killed.

Calling it a "conscienceless or pitiless crime and unnecessarily torturous to the victim," Holloway said she considered strongly the cruelty of Robinson's death in reaching her decision.

"The facts of this case include acts perpetrated upon a conscious victim clearly involving foreknowledge of death, extreme anxiety and fear," the judge said. "The victim did not die a quick death."

The judge noted the murder plan was hatched at a Denny's Restaurant while the trio were dropping hits of acid. She said they killed Vicki Robinson, 49, a real estate agent because they thought she objected to her daughter dating Davis.

Trial testimony showed it was Davis' idea to inject Vicki Robinson with heroin, but when they couldn't find the drug, he decided to use bleach. Davis grabbed Vicki Robinson in a sleeper hold in the kitchen of her home. She fell to the floor and he stabbed the syringe into her neck.

When that didn't kill her, Whispel handed him a knife and he stabbed her, according to Whispel's testimony. Valessa sat on her mother's legs. Later, as they smoked a cigarette in Valessa Robinson's room, they heard Vicki Robinson moan in pain.

Davis exclaimed, "The bitch won't die!" He then stabbed her again and tried to break her neck. Davis and Whispel placed her body in a garbage can and took it to a remote area of Town 'N Country. They were captured days later in Texas.

"Of all the things in the world these children could have done," Englert said, "this is the only thing they could have done to prevent being together."

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