More on the tragic death of Durand Robinson, one of the organizers of Atlanta's popular Black Gay Pride celebration who was killed in an apparent carjacking only one week before the festivities. Robinson's lifeless body was found lying in an Atlanta street early Wednesday. Residents report hearing an argument, then a gunshot and car speeding away.
There are no arrests, suspects or confirmed leads on the stolen vehicle. Investigators are retracing the last hours of Robinson's life for clues. "Prince Robinson said he was told his brother was accosted in the Greenbriar Mall and driven to Hadlock Street and thrown from the car," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: "Police said they are looking at all possible motives for the shooting—carjacking, robbery, someone he angered at the bars he operated or Robinson’s role as an organizer of events for the gay community."
If Prince Robinson's account is correct, it's worth asking why would his brother visit the Greenbriar Mall after midnight?
Robinson was the co-owner of the popular Traxx nightclub and Robinson was at the club's board meeting only hours before he died, reports Creative Loafing.
Anthony Toliver says it was about half-past-midnight when the board associated with local gay bar Traxx adjourned its most recent meeting. He was under the impression that Durand Robinson would be heading home to Decatur from their meeting place at Bryson Square Apartments. But, about an hour later, Robinson was found dead in a Southwest Atlanta roadway, nowhere near where the meeting was held or his home. "That’s one thing we find very puzzling," Toliver told CL
A source close to the investigation has also told Rod 2.0 that police are investigating if the robbery was an "inside job or someone who knew Robinson, or connected to the club."
Toliver clarifies to CL that although Robinson was active in the LGBT community, he was not gay. "I doubt seriously that it was [bias related]," Duke told CL. "No one's said that or thinks that. I hope people take time to focus on the loss and the senselessness of the crime, rather than whether it was a hate crime. This could have happened to anyone."
The 50-year-old Durand Robinson retired from Delta Airlines after almost three decades and went into event planning and the bar business. "[Robinson] was very selfless and would do anything at any moment for anyone," Avian Watson, a spokesperson for the Black-lesbian promotion group Traxx Girls told GA Voice. "[Pride] weekend is about giving back and that is what he was about. He was always giving of himself."
Robinson death comes only one week before Atlanta's Black Gay Pride, the largest Black pride event in the world. In the Life Atlanta has announced the organization will remember Robinson during Black Gay Pride with a candlelight vigil on Sept. 1.
There are several virtual tributes to the slain promoter. Atlanta-based WhatsTheT.com has collected photos and testimonials. And Durand Robinson's Facebook page has become a cyber-memorial.
