Less than 20 minutes into the Richmond County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 15, a woman stormed into the room shouting loudly as law enforcement officers converged on her.
“I don’t care about going to jail! It’s their fault! They shouldn’t have made him kill himself!” wailed Jo’Rae Jenkins.
Jenkins did not make it far into the boardroom before those officers moved to stop her as she yelled allegations against the county’s school board.
Witnesses believe Jenkins was referring to the alleged suicide of Robinson, who was pronounced dead at 4:50 p.m. earlier in the day by Coroner Mark Bowen.
Moments after Jenkins was forced out of the room, board member and District 8 representative Jimmy Atkins wished the Robinson family his condolences.
Just outside the building, Jenkins stood on the sidewalk sobbing hysterically. She continued to hurl accusations as Chief Mantrell Wilson, director of School Safety and Security, held her back.
“You are all fake and full of s***!” she said. “They think this s*** is a f***ing game! They killed him! I just talked to him!”
Jenkins insisted that District 4 member Wayne Frazier knew the truth about Robinson’s death and should not hide it.
“Dr. Frazier, you have to tell people what happened! You know what happened!” she said as she sobbed and Frazier comforted her.
An unidentified onlooker, who attempted to reassure Jenkins, refused to let anyone from The Augusta Press approach her for comment on the situation, and shortly, Jenkins was guided to a nearby red car.
While Jenkins was driven away by a volunteer, Frazier and Wilson stayed behind and talked with other witnesses.
In regards to Jenkins’ comments, Frazier said he did not know what exactly she was referring to.
“I’ll just say this, we got another young Black man in our community that’s gone, and the only thing I can say is a lot of the reason why he’s gone is a lack of our nurturing,” he said.
Frazier said he believes a leading problem within the community could have been a huge part of losing Robinson and several others.
“So many of our Black men leave, and we’re pointing the fingers at a lot of other people. We in our own community need to start nurturing our young men – especially when they step up and are trying to do something positive like serve the community,” he continued.
Knowing the young man professionally, Frazier said he thought Robinson was very wise for his age and died too soon. He added his condolences for the Robinson family and shared his thoughts on the rumor that Robinson embezzled money to support his recent campaign.
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“We crucify people in our community before the court date,” he said. “I know he don’t deserve to not be here anymore.”
Frazier said he felt guilty because he did not see the signs of Robinson’s struggles and wished he could have prevented the unexpected death.
“I didn’t see it coming, and I didn’t do everything that I could have done had I known a little bit,” he said.
Later in the evening, Richmond County’s Board of Education sent out a press release about Robinson’s passing, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Mr. Tyrique Robinson. His willingness to serve on the Board of Education and support our children is a testament to his interest in building a better community for us all. Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with Mr. Robinson’s family, friends and all whose lives he touched.”
Correction: The Augusta Press originally reported that Jo’Rae Jenkins was manager of Tyrique Robinson’s school campaign. We are working to verify that information and apologize for reporting it prematurely.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
