Christopher Robinson Jr. was shot and killed while in the emergency room lobby of Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee on March 2.
A 38-year-old Milwaukee man is facing three felony charges in connection with the shooting.
Robinson’s family honored his memory with a funeral service on April 11 at Heritage Funeral Homes in Oak Creek.
Banners, service programs and shirts depicting Robinson, who was 40 years old, with wings filled the funeral home. The casket placed in front was surrounded by stringed lights stretching vertically toward the heavens as family filed past slowly, saying goodbye to a man who many would later proclaim made an impact on their lives – and their hair.
The family barber, Robinson, a proud Chicagoan growing up, was not an early prodigy when it came to hair clippers, often giving questionable cuts which even during the somber service made everyone laugh thinking back.
Pastor Marty Calderon spoke early on about finding joy even in the midst of pain. He said Robinson will always live on in the minds of those who knew him and the stories they tell.
Calderon shared a story he’d been told of Robinson noticing someone on the side of the road who didn’t have shoes.
“This man took his shoes off and said, ‘here, you need them more than I do,’” Calderon recalled.
While he may not have been a prodigy as a barber, Robinson did have natural athletic talent in gymnastics as a member of the Jessie White Tumblers. He also had a knack for home renovation and “took pride in being self-employed,” his obituary in the service program said.
Many family members spoke briefly about the impact Robinson had on their lives with one calling him their favorite uncle who is still living in her heart.
His niece, Resha, said with a smile and laugh that his haircuts “had me crying.”
Robinson’s son, Josiah, said his dad “was always there for all of us.”
After the service family members said final goodbyes with many taking white roses from the various arrangements surrounding the casket. The family stood together for a photo and on the count of three they all yelled, “We love you Chris!”
Speaking briefly after the service, Robinson’s mother, Eloise, said Christopher was “a good son,” a 4.0 student who would’ve graduated in May with a degree in business management from Milwaukee Area Technical College, and an organ donor who just saved five people.
She said everything he did always amazed her, and she was very proud of him.
To the shooter, she had one tearful question: “I just want to ask him why?”
What happened the day of the shooting and the days following
Robinson had been at the ER with his girlfriend and mother to seek medical care for pain in his hip.
The criminal complaint, along with attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who is representing Robinson’s family, noted Robinson and alleged shooter Ronnell Dwayne Shaw Jr., did not know each other.
Security video of the incident depicted Robinson at the front desk with his mother when a man comes around the corner in a wheelchair. The man can be seen drawing a firearm, pointing it at Robinson’s head and firing twice.
The shooter fired a third time and grazed a second victim, who ran to a nearby bathroom until police arrived when he came out to get treatment for the gunshot wound to his abdomen, according to the complaint.
Police took Shaw into custody without incident.
Robinson was erroneously declared dead by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office on March 2. He was taken off life support at Froedtert Hospital on March 7.
In a statement March 5, an Aurora Sinai spokesperson said the hospital’s internal review determined the building’s metal detectors were functional. However, any staff members who didn’t use a handheld screening wand were fired. It’s unclear how many staff were fired or how Shaw made it through the metal detectors with the firearm.
Shaw’s next court appearance is a status conference scheduled for April 17.
Contact Erik at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Follow his Facebook page, The Redheadliner Erik S. Hanley, and follow him on X @Redheadliner.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man shot in ER lobby remembered for his heart, and haircuts
Reporting by Erik S. Hanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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