On Saturday night, a few minutes before 8 p.m., 20-year-old Shatara Robinson was walking from the CityPlace DART station to a restaurant on McKinney Avenue, where she was planning to meet family for dinner.
She was on the sidewalk when she was approached by Rodney Jones, a wild-haired 46-year-old dressed in red shorts and shirt, who demanded her purse and keys. If she didn't hand them over, he promised to kill her. Police say he had nearly done that to another woman 20 minutes before. She'd been walking in the 3000 block of Blackburn when he'd held a knife to her throat, piercing the skin but getting away with nothing.
Robinson took off, running as fast as she could to away from Jones. She made it 50 yards before he caught up with her and threw her to the ground, laying on top of her and wrapping both hands around her neck.
"She is going to die with me," Jones spat at a man who happened to be nearby and was moving to help Robinson Jones warned the man that if he moved any closer, he would kill her.
He seemed to be doing that anyway. Dallas police, flagged down by several witnesses, noted that Jones "appeared to be trying to break [Robinson]'s neck" when they arrived.
"I'm gonna kill her! You are going to have to kill me," he yelled as he continued to choke her.
One of the officers kneed Jones. When that didn't dislodge him from atop Robinson, they zapped him with a Taser and cuffed him. He was taken to Dallas County Jail, where he's being held on a robbery charge and for a parole violation. His bond was set at $200,000. Robinson escaped without serious injury.
