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SALT LAKE CITY — A jury Tuesday found a Murray man guilty of killing his girlfriend in 2012 in the basement of his parents' home.
Jurors found Ryan Randy Robinson, 34, guilty of murder around 5:30 p.m. after about 4 hours of deliberation.
In a trial that began Thursday in 3rd District Court, prosecutors made their case to jurors that Robinson maliciously shot and killed his girlfriend inside his parents' Murray home on April 9, 2012.
Shantelle Reid, 25, was found dead that day inside the home's basement with a gunshot wound to her head.
Murray police officer David Stallings shot at Robinson twice after arriving at the home at 6340 S. 725 East. Stallings testified in a preliminary hearing in August 2012 that Robinson ran from him and at one point held a gun up to his own chin before eventually pointing it at the officer. Stallings opened fire, hitting Robinson once in the stomach. The shooting was later ruled justified.
Reid's family also testified in the 2012 hearing that she dated Robinson for about eight months prior to her death and that her loved ones knew he was violent.
Jay Reid said his sister, who he described as the loving mother of a 4-year-old boy, had resolved to leave Robinson and move to southern Utah. He said that just days before his sister died, he overhead Robinson telling her he would kill her and whoever helped her leave the relationship.
Brian Bench, who taught Robinson at Fortis College in Salt Lake City, said he knew the couple. He testified in the preliminary hearing that he was at Robinson's parents' home on the day Reid died, but had left after the couple started arguing. Bench said he called 911 after Robinson called a mutual friend who was with him at the time and confessed to shooting Reid.
Jurors also found Robinson guilty Tuesday of aggravated assault and the purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, both third-degree felonies. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 14 at the Matheson Courthouse.
Robinson's and Reid's family members — some of whom were visibly emotional, though most were stoic — declined to comment on the verdict as they left the courtroom.
