After nine years, Jasmyne Robison says, she had reached her breaking point.
Her longtime partner, Hamza Smajlovic, had long been abusive. On Oct. 30, 2024, he strangled her “almost to death,” she said. The next day, she told him she was going to get groceries with her grandmother, but instead, when Robison’s grandmother picked her up, Robison told her, “Do not ever bring me back to this place again.”
But she did have to go back one more time, to retrieve possessions, furniture, a dog. And so on Nov. 1, accompanied by her parents, Ruth and Tony Robison, she returned to the Des Moines home she and Smajlovic had shared.
Experts say one of the most dangerous points in an abusive relationship is when the victim tries to leave, and in this case it was. Before the Robisons had finished, Smajlovic opened fire, shooting both of Jasmyne Robison’s parents in the head. Tony Robison survived with permanent scars. Ruth Robison died.
Smajlovic, now 25, was charged with six crimes. On Monday, Oct. 27, the day jury selection was to begin for his trial and nearly one year after the shooting, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder. The former carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
After the hearing, Jasmyne Robison said the guilty plea and Smajlovic’s sentencing on Nov. 21 are a step forward for her family.
“It’s as much justice as we’re ever going to see,” she said.
Red flags and escalating abuse
Jasmyne Robison was 14 when she first began dating Smajlovic. Looking back, she says, there were red flags even in the first few months, as he began pressuring her not to spend time with anyone else.
“It’s a big first step in domestic violence relationships is when they start with the isolation,” she said.
The couple moved into a home together in 2019 and the abuse continued to escalate, with thrown items, blows and even a gun held to her head. Robison said she remained in the relationship out of fear, but also optimism, echoing research into domestic abuse relationships.
“You remain hopeful when love is there,” she said. “I give chance after chance. He hits me, he says he’ll never do it again, he apologizes, and it’s very much highs and lows with a narcissist. … I felt like I was not safe and I could not leave sooner.”
Attorneys for Smajlovic declined to comment on the domestic violence allegations.
Shooting comes after she ends relationship
Robison said when she returned for her belongings, there were no warnings that Smajlovic would respond with violence.
“There were no escalations, heated moments, heated anger,” she said. “He had been crying on the couch, wanted to speak with me one last time, which I did.”
One of the items the Robisons were hauling out was a dresser that belonged to her. Smajlovic had kept a handgun in one of the drawers, and went to retrieve it.
“As soon as he realized that that was out of the door, he went and got it, picked it up and he made the conscious decision to do what he did,” she said.
In court Monday, Smajlovic told the judge he’d acted with premeditation and malice aforethought when he shot Ruth and Tony Robison.
“I believe (my intent) at the time was to kill her,” he told the judge of shooting Jayme Robison’s mother. “I believe, after Ruth, I pointed the gun at Tony and shot him in the head as well. I believe it was (with) the intent to kill.”
Tony Robison continues recovery
Since his shooting, Tony Robison hasn’t been able to work. His face remains scarred, he can’t fully open his mouth and he still feels pain from the screws holding his skull together. The recovery, he said, has been “not fast enough for me.”
The forced inactivity has been maddening for a man who before his shooting worked 18-hour days in two full-time jobs.
“(I feel) lazy,” he said. “I’m still stuck in last year.”
The scars aren’t just physical. He said he still remembers the screaming from the day he was shot.
“I could hear, even though I was not conscious, but still I could hear everything that was taking place, and that’s all coming back to me,” he said.
Jasmyne Robison said her parents are an inspiration for her.
“I aspire every day that I can find a love like the love my parents shared,” she said. “There’s not a thing that my Dad would not do for my mother, and there’s not a thing that my mother wouldn’t do for my Dad. They’re both extremely hard workers, they both have the most amazing, kind souls, and they raised those kids to the best of their abilities and I think we turned out OK.”
With Smajlovic’s case winding up, the family is again looking forward. Chayse Robison, Jasmyne Robison’s sister, said the family is looking for a new house to be a forever home for everyone, and Jasmyne Robison said they’re adjusting to a new life without their mother in it.
“Instead of holidays, we’ll take vacations for probably the remainder of our lives,” she said. “Holidays are hard when you’re missing family, but when you’re on a beach, it’s hard to be sad. Or at least you’re sad on a beach.”
How to get help:
This article was updated to add information to a photo caption.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines man who shot ex’s parents, killing mother, pleads guilty to murder
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
