Rachel Reloni Robinson has been adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 40 years in prison for Aggravated Battery, Petit Theft, and Resisting a Merchant’s Efforts. She was convicted in June, following a trial in Lee County.
Assistant State Attorney Marilla Shoemaker prosecuted the case.
The crime happened on February 15, 2024. The Fort Myers Police Department responded to an assault at a gas station on Cleveland Avenue and found a man laying on the ground bleeding. The defendant was nearby talking on a cellphone when officers arrived. A witness told police that the defendant was the shooter. An officer also saw the handle of a gun sticking out of the defendant’s handbag and she was detained.
Evidence presented at trial was surveillance video from the store that showed the defendant taking drinks out of a cooler in the store and then walking out without paying. The victim, a store employee, attempted to stop the theft by reaching to take the drinks out of her hands. She then punched him.
He tried to defend himself and get away from her but was then shot by the defendant. The victim survived the shooting.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office