Witness: 2 men killed Lansing woman over $75 drug debt

LANSING — A Lansing woman was shot and killed over a $75 drug debt, her boyfriend testified.

Tameka Jackson, 37, and her boyfriend, Augustus Robinson, were slightly buzzed from a mix of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana, at her apartment in the 700 block of West Ionia Street the morning of March 13, Robinson testified Friday at a hearing that determined there was enough evidence for murder charges against two men to advance to trial. 

Robinson went to use the bathroom, then heard Jackson and a man talking. He didn't recognize the voice and hadn't expected anyone else to be there. As he got closer, he heard the man say, "Well let me get that TV."

Coming back into the living room, he saw two men standing in his apartment: Rodolfo Alvarez and John Kennedy, he said. He didn't recognize Kennedy, 28, but said he had met 31-year-old Alvarez several times before. Both had handguns, one tucked into Alvarez's waistband and the other in Kennedy's right hand at his side. 

Robinson, 44, said he sobered up as soon as he saw the gun. Robinson knew Alvarez had come to collect his debt, $75 Jackson had owed him since January. 

Robinson told him he would get Alvarez his money when he got his paycheck in a week, he testified. He started to walk toward Alvarez, who warned him not to take another step. 

When Jackson picked up her cell phone and held it to her ear, Alvarez asked, "Oh, you gonna call the police now?" 

Alvarez tucked his gun deeper into his pants and started walking toward the door, Kennedy following. When Alvarez turned and looked back — a gesture Robinson said he believes was a signal — Kennedy reached back and shot Tameka. Once in the torso, then once in the neck. 

Jackson and Robinson were not armed and do not own guns, Robinson said. 

Still in shock, Robinson hurried to lock and deadbolt the front door, he said. Jackson stood up and took a few steps, then fell to the floor. She asked Robinson to call 911, but ended up making the call herself. 

A moment later, Kennedy came back into the apartment, kicking the door down and breaking through the deadbolt, Robinson said. Footage from a neighbor's Nest Hello video doorbell showed Kennedy jumping out of a truck just as he and Alvarez began driving away, Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Troy Johnson testified Friday. 

"They could've easily left at that time," Ingham County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Dewane said. "The only reason (Kennedy) came back in that house, your honor, is because he left a witness alive."

Robinson was on the ground with Jackson, but he started backing up toward the bedroom when he saw Kennedy, he said. 

Jackson looked up and saw Kennedy and said, "For real?" Kennedy shot her twice more, standing over where she lay on the floor. 

Robinson scampered into the bedroom and shut the door, bracing it with his body to prevent Kennedy from breaking in, he said. Kennedy kicked the door several times, leaving a bloody footprint behind.

When he wasn't able to kick the door in, he fired several shots instead, Robinson said. One of the bullets hit Robinson in the stomach.  

Kennedy left, then Robinson rushed out to check on Jackson and called 911. 

"There's been a shooting, my girlfriend's been shot multiple times. I think she's dead," Robinson said on recorded audio of the 911 call played during the hearing. "Please hurry. Please, there's been a shooting. My girlfriend is dead." 

Once police arrived, Robinson immediately told them he knew one of the men who had shot them, according to body camera footage shown during the hearing. 

Although Alvarez did not fire any shots at Jackson or Robinson, Dewane said they clearly were acting together. Kennedy shot the couple at Alvarez's direction, he told Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen Simmons.  

Simmons bound both Alvarez and Kennedy over to circuit court to stand trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, home invasion and five felony weapons charges. 

Attorneys for both Alvarez and Kennedy said they opposed Simmons' decision. Toby White, Alvarez's attorney, said his client was not responsible for "any of this outrageous violence." 

Both men remain in custody at the Ingham County Jail with no bail. 

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.