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From Jail, Dad Says He Didn't Kill 22-Month-Old Son

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By RAY REYES and VALERIE KALFRIN of The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 14, 2008

TAMPA - TAMPA - TAMPA -- A man charged in connection with the death of his 22-month-old son denied harming the child, saying, "I'm not that type of person."

Chauncey Robinson

Tampa police charged Chauncey Robinson, 26, on Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse after autopsy results showed his son, Chavon, died Wednesday from a brain injury.

In a phone interview from Orient Road Jail this morning, Robinson said he did not know how the child was injured. He and his fiancée, Tina Tillman, called 911 after Chavon made a choking noise and then appeared to be not breathing during his afternoon nap, he said.

He was stunned by the criminal charges.

"I couldn't believe it," Robinson said. "I, I, I'm not that type of person. … I've never been through nothing like this in my life. I've been around kids all my life."

Chavon was Robinson's only son. Robinson and Tillman have a 9-month-old daughter.

Interviewed at the couple's apartment at 5718 N. Lincoln Ave., Tillman said she didn't think Robinson had harmed Chavon.

"He's a good boy," she said, crying. "I just can't imagine Chauncey hurting him like that."

She noted that Robinson does become absorbed in video games when watching Chavon. "I really believe Chauncey wasn't paying attention to this child like he should've been," she said.

Police are not releasing details on how the baby was injured because the investigation is ongoing, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Robinson and Tillman said they regularly spent a few days a week with Chavon. Two weeks ago today, they picked up Chavon from his mother's home after the mother, Shantil Galloway, asked Robinson to spend more time with the boy, the couple said.

"We went to Chuck E. Cheese's, went to the park a few times," said Robinson, who works as a roofer. "He was always a quiet type. He hardly ever cries. He likes to play football."

Tillman said she returned home from work about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday to find Chavon lying in bed. "I thought he was sleeping," she said.

She left to pay a bill and returned a short time later.

Robinson said Chavon had lain down for his nap about 3 p.m. When Tillman returned, he said, "I was sitting on the couch, playing a video game. I heard him like he was choking or something."

Tillman said she and Robinson went to check on the child. When Robinson picked up the boy, Chavon was, "like, lifeless," she said.

Tillman said she thought the child was having an asthma attack. They began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called 911.

The ambulance crew "said he had a slight pulse," Robinson said. He accompanied the child to St. Joseph's Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead.

According to a criminal report affidavit, Chavon had "numerous injuries, both recent and old."

Robinson said the boy recently received a bump on the back of his head and scraped his hand while playing outside with other children at their apartment complex.

Chavon also "falls out, like temper tantrums," he said. For instance, while sitting on the floor recently, the boy banged his head on the tile after Robinson refused to give him more juice, Robinson said.

Robinson said he did not know what had caused the other injuries.

Tillman said she thought Robinson was nervous when talking to detectives because he did not know what had happened to the boy.

"He really don't know," she said. "He feels like he couldn't tell them people he didn't know what was going on."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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