The Hiawayi Robinson Case: Betrayed By The Ones There To Protect Her

[Prichard, Alabama]

On September 16th, 2014, 8 year old Hiawayi Robinson got home from school, she asked her grandmother if should could go to a family member’s house. Her grandmother easily said yes because this was a usual routine for the little girl, so at 3:45pm, she headed off. When Hiawayi’s older sister returned home from dance practice, she realized that her sister never made it to the family member’s home.

Hiawayi was last seen wearing white shorts, a hello kitty t shirt, and had her hair braided with beads in it.

When the little girl’s father, Hiawatha Robinson, got word that his daughter was missing, he showed up at the house completely distraught saying “how could you let this happen” to her mother. Together, her parents made a public plead for their daughter’s safe return. When her father got the opportunity to talk, he said that he could not eat or sleep since his daughter went missing.

Police reached out for help from The FBI and Alabama Bureau of Investigation, but their timing was too late Hiawayi’s body was found dumped in an abandoned building on top of a pile of rubble on September 18th, 2014. Her hello kitty shirt was blood stained, her braids were coming out, and a piece of black duct tape was by her body.The autopsy report showed that she had been strangled to death after being sexually assaulted/sodomized.

During the investigation, a tip came in saying that the little girl was last spotted at a local gas station only half a mile from her home. Police were eager to check the surveillance in hopes that they would find some clues as to where she went or who she was with. At 3:59pm on the surveillance, Hiawayi was spotted on camera in the store by herself happily buying candy.

Police started to notice a few clues. The timestamp said 3:59pm and she left at 3:45pm. Usually, the walk to this store from her home would take around 20 minutes. That day, she traveled a lot quicker as if someone was driving her. She also was not wearing a jacket or appropriate clothing for the rainy weather that was occurring that day which only supported the fact that she possibly had a ride. In the very corner of the surveillance was a Chevy Tahoe, the same car her father drove.

Police asked her father why his car was spotted at the gas station around the same time his daughter was there and he stuttered over his words before completely denying that Hiawayi was ever in the car with him. Unbeknownst to Hiawatha’s new girlfriend that he was under any type of suspicion, she willingly handed over the security footage from their house hoping it would account for his whereabouts that day.

The footage from their home showed Hiawatha leaving his house at 3:04pm. After panning through hours of footage, at 6:49pm, surveillance footage showed him pulling back into his driveway. When he walked into the house, he was holding an article of clothing and immediately headed for the laundry room. Hiawatha did laundry for around 30 minutes which included washing the clothes he was wearing for the day. An inspection of the Tahoe showed that one of Hiawayi’s beads was there, along with the same duct tape from the crime scene. His DNA matched the DNA found on her body.

When confronted about the evidence, Hiawatha got hostile and maintained that he did not do anything. However, police had all the evidence they needed to arrest him.

On December 16th, 2014, Hiawatha Robinson was arrested for his daughter’s murder. Even with all the evidence that is piled up against him, Hiawatha has still shown no remorse or ever admitted he killed his daughter. He was sentenced to 100 years in prison.