Men accused in a brutal jail assault and the February death of Theotis Hasan II made initial court appearances Monday.
James Michael Robinson, 28, has been fingered as the gunman who fatally shot Hasan, the 29-year-old Hephzibah victim who killed after filming a Facebook live stream near downtown Augusta. Robinson, a felon with a history of gang violence, was just served warrants Sunday in the murder.
Deputies were called to the area of Sullivan and Hollis roads at 2:48 a.m. Feb. 1 for a shooting. They found Hasan near a wrecked Dodge Challenge, shot multiple times in the head and body.
Hasan was shot shortly after ending a live stream on Facebook where he was rapping the lyrics to a song. He is heard saying, “You scared to come in the projects when it’s dark, ha. You a thug and got no heart, ha.”
In an unrelated case, Lorenzo Dexter Lindsey Jr., 26, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and the possession of deadly weapons by an inmate in his latest set of offenses.
Lindsey awaits trial with another man, Evan Smith, in the 2019 shooting death of Michael Edward Holt.
The son of convicted murderer Lorenzo Dexter Lindsey Sr., he was previously named in a 91-count indictment of nine alleged Old Savannah Road street gang members on drugs, guns and racketeering charges.
Meanwhile, Robinson is facing additional charges that include gambling, robbery by force, possession of a firearm by a felon and during the commission of a crime and unlawful street gang activity, according to jail records. He was initially arrested on Valentine’s Day and later linked to the Hasan murder.
Robinson was also linked to a violent robbery at 3 Dollar Sports Bar & Grill, where he and co-defendant Jaylin Hood allegedly robbed a man of his $11,000 necklace. They also beat the man so badly on Feb. 8 that the victim required multiple staples in his head, authorities said.
Robinson has been in and out of jail and is accused of continuing his gang affiliation and criminal activity from the jail with a cell phone that was discovered in December 2021. Still, he was free on bail when he allegedly killed Hasan in cold blood.
Reading his arrest warrant to Robinson, Civil and Magistrate Judge Shawn Mirzlak said Lindsay was too much of a threat to grant a bond while Robinson has to request one in superior court due to the nature of his charges.
Hasan, the grandson of former Augusta Commissioner Ben Hasan, was reportedly live-streaming himself at a nightclub and walking through a public housing project shortly before he was killed.
Initial appearance hearings are for defendants to hear the charges they face and potentially receive a bond if the charges are below a certain level.
(Greg Rickabaugh contributed to this report.)
