OHIO — A man has learned his punishment for shooting and killing his friend outside the Ohio Statehouse in 2022, according to our media partners WBNS-10 TV.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Travon Robinson, 20, was sentenced to 14 to 19 years in prison. He previously pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges with a gun specification.
WBNS-10 reported that he will receive credit for more than two years served.
“You don’t care if you kill, you don’t care if you go to prison,” Franklin County Judge Julie Lynch said during sentencing. “You put a gun in someone’s hand and they are no longer a child. You are a threat.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- 22-year-old woman killed in Jefferson Township crash identified
- Smoke visible for miles after fire in Champaign County
- Man dead after early morning house fire in Dayton
As previously reported by News Center 7, the shooting happened when a group of teenagers was riding scooters around the statehouse on May 29, 2022.
Franklin County prosecutors said Robinson shot 16-year-old Broderick “BJ” Harper during an attempted robbery. He ran away after the shooting.
Broderick Harper Sr., the victim’s father, described his son as “very energetic, handsome, loved family, liked to play. Liked to have fun, sports. Just all around a good person.”
According to WBNS-10, prosecutor Chris Clark said Robinson’s record shows a pattern of crime and lack of remorse.
“There’s a lack of remorse and there’s a lack of accountability,” Clark said. “When you factor in that and then you look at his record … in juvenile court, just constantly in and out on charges ranging from stolen cars to guns to robbery, he is a threat to the community.”
Robinson didn’t speak during his sentencing, WBNS-10 reported.
However, Harper’s father said an apology wouldn’t have made a difference.
“Nope, not at all,” he said. “The sorry, a tear, anything like that wouldn’t have mattered. We all knew that there was not gonna be no type of remorse at all.”
This case is the only murder ever recorded at the historic building.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
