Judge sentences killer in fatal City Hall bus stop shooting to 43 years

The man who murdered a father waiting at the bus stop in front of Richmond’s City Hall last year will serve 43 years of active incarceration, according to the sentence handed down Friday by a local judge.

Judge Claire Cardwell gave Johnathan Jackson a stricter punishment than was outlined in sentencing guidelines, which suggested prison time ranging from 23 to 38 years. 

The more severe penalty was in line with what prosecutors requested, citing Jackson’s record of anger issues and involvement with law enforcement, the level of premeditation he showed, his lack of remorse and the location of the murder, which occurred at about 7:40 a.m. on March 8, 2024, at a bus stop located between City Hall and the General Assembly Building. The legislature, which was in session at the time, went into a lockdown after the shooting. 

“The level of danger to the community by a brazen and bold attack like this was immense,” said Richmond Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brooke Pettit. 

At the sentencing hearing in Richmond Circuit Court Friday, relatives of the victim, Vincent Robinson, sketched a picture of a quiet, family-oriented man who was beloved by his brother, aunts and uncles, mother and 11-year-old son. 

“I miss his hugs,” said mother Shante Jackson after the sentence was handed down. “I miss him calling and getting on my nerves.” 

Tiara Edwards, the mother of Robinson’s son Christian, said their child asked her every few days what had happened and had become more withdrawn and angry since the murder. 

“Imagine telling your child their dad was killed for no reason,” she said. 

Shaketa Greene, Robinson’s aunt, said the murder was “just pointless.” 

“It still doesn’t make sense,” she said. 

While Johnathan Jackson argued during the trial that he had believed Robinson had flashed a knife at him at the bus stop, leading him to fear for his life — a story he repeated at the sentencing — prosecutors said that narrative was contradicted by video evidence showing the two had only an 18-second interaction and Robinson had been raising his hands to show they were empty at the time he was shot. 

According to prosecutors, Jackson had been fired from his job in the food court at the VCU Children’s Hospital on March 7 after he spit in the face of another employee and threatened to kill him. On March 8, after his supervisor denied his request to come back to work, Jackson told his supervisor he had a gun and would kill him. 

He then dressed in a hood, a mask and sunglasses and went downtown with his gun, where he got a cup of coffee and a Black & Mild before attempting to enter the Children’s Hospital. Prosecutors said after he was denied entry, he went to the bus stop, which is also located near the hospital, to wait to confront his coworker. 

When Robinson walked by the bus stop, the two had what court documents describe as “a brief verbal exchange” before Jackson shot him in the chest and then walked away. Robinson laid on the ground for roughly 9 minutes before police arrived. He died at the hospital. 

At the sentencing hearing, Jackson expressed some remorse but insisted he “was kind of in the heat of passion” at the time of the shooting. 

Robinson’s mother said she didn’t consider it a genuine apology.

“He was upset because he got caught,” she said. 

Jackson’s attorney, Gregory Sheldon, had asked for the court to impose a sentence within the 23- to 38-year guidelines, noting that his client had only two convictions — for petty larceny and disorderly conduct — on his record and had faced both sexual abuse and drug problems in his past.

Cardwell, however, opted for a longer sentence of 63 years, with 20 of them suspended. 

Pettit said the time “reflects the significance and the violence of the case.”

“It’s always baffling when a defendant picks a person they’ve never met,” she said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever have a true explanation in the case.” 

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org