Trial to begin for teen accused of killing father
Jun. 19—After more than a year of pandemic-related delays, Dylan Robinson, the Oneonta teenager charged with murdering his father in pursuit of drugs and cash and setting the home on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime, is scheduled to begin his trial Monday, June 21, in Otsego County Court.
Robinson, who has been held in a Syracuse youth detention center since his October 2019 arrest, faces charges of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree attempted robbery and third-degree arson.
Robinson was 15 when he and four friends and an older acquaintance, armed with long guns, drove to 53-year-old Kenneth Robinson's Worcester home.
The elder Robinson was found dead in the threshold of his home when emergency personnel responded to reports of a fire at the residence. Dylan's two younger siblings were asleep in the same room as their father when the teen let his friends into the house, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege Robinson fired the shots that killed his father while he and his co-defendants sought $5,000 in cash and marijuana.
Two other Oneonta defendants, Nicolas Meridy, then 32, and Alexander Borggreen, then 16, were similarly charged and have since been sentenced on plea deals.
Meridy pleaded to murder at a hearing in August, just before his trial was set to begin, and was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison in October. Borggreen pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced in March to a 12-year indeterminate state prison sentence.
The sentencing for then-15-year-old Anais Soto, who is alleged to have stood armed watch at the scene, has been delayed as the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated additional space in youth detention facilities, according to Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl.
Soto, who pleaded guilty to burglary and agreed to testify against her co-conspirators in exchange for the other charges being dropped, has been out of secure detention since December 2019. Under the terms of her bail agreement, Judge John F. Lambert ordered Soto to wear an ankle monitor.
Two other suspects, Alexis Lottermann of Walton and Tatiana Febo of Downsville, then 16 and 17, are accused of serving as getaway drivers and are being tried as juveniles in Family Court.
