Troopers say new video shows killers chasing victim before highway shooting in Auburn
AUBURN, Wash. - Detectives have shared video exclusively with FOX 13 in hopes of solving a 2020 homicide on a King County roadway that left a 12-year-old boy without a father.
FOX 13 News crews were at the scene in the early morning of Oct. 6, 2020 as troopers shut down both directions of Highway 18 in Auburn to investigate the homicide.
Investigators arrived to find 36-year-old Timothy Robinette dead at the scene.
"It’s not fair that he doesn’t get to see me grow up. I hope that whoever killed my dad will get caught so other kids don’t have to feel what I feel," said Robinette's then-10-year-old son, Evan.
Minutes before Robinette's murder, surveillance video from a Ring camera in a parking lot shows a white Durango pulling into a parking spot. A dark-colored 2018 to 2020 Hyundai Kona backs in toward the Ring camera, then pulls up next to the Durango.
The driver of the Durango got into the Kona, which had at least two people in it.
Washington State Troopers say Robinette got into the now empty Durango and drove off. Troopers believe he left his car at a nearby gas station at the time.
The people in the Kona took off after him.
Video shows the Kona chasing Robinette through Auburn, and one of the men was firing a gun at the stolen vehicle driven by Robinette.
Robinette then hit a barrier and crashed and got out of the vehicle. Then, troopers say one of the men in the Kona shot him in the head from across the road.
"Our detectives truly believe that there is someone out there who knows who was involved in this, in the Hyundai Kona. We believe there were 2, possibly 3 individuals in that vehicle so we're looking for anyone with information," said Trooper Rick Johnson.
The Kona has not been found and the license plate number was not visible on the security camera.
Detectives say there is no connection between Robinette or the owner of the Durango. Detectives also believe that they never had any sort of interaction in that parking lot.
"It broke my heart when my mom said my dad was taken away from me. My dad tried his best to be there for me and I miss him every day," Evan said.
There is a $2,000 reward being offered through Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound for a tip that leads to an arrest. $1,000 is from Robinette's father and $1,000 from Crime Stoppers.
If you have any information on the incident, suspects or Kona, you can leave an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-222-Tips or by using the P3 Tips App.
You can also contact WSP Det. Olsen at (425) 401-7746 or by email at Franklin.Olsen@wsp.wa.gov.