He drove the car used in killing of a young Miami girl. He’s going to prison for 30 years

The driver of the car used in the ambush shooting that killed a 7-year-old Miami girl will serve 30 years in prison.

Antonio Robinson, 24, on Friday pleaded guilty to driving the gunman in the shooting that killed Alana Washington in Brownsville in July 2020.

Alana was shot along with a 1-year-old relative and two adults outside a home on the 2900 block of Northwest 51st Street. Shot in the head, Alana was removed from life support two days later at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Investigators believe the drive-by came in retaliation for another fatal shooting months earlier in Northwest Miami-Dade.

Prosecutors say Robinson and Jarvis Baker-Flanders were targeting Demtriel Rice, Alana’s older brother, who on the day of the shooting had gone to a Liberty City flea market with family. Surveillance video showed they were being tailed by Robinson and Baker-Flanders, who followed them to the home while in a gray Nissan Altima.

Both men confessed, and cellphone data showed them in the area of the flea market, and the drive-by shooting that day, Miami-Dade police said.

During Friday’s hearing, Robinson acknowledged that he was driving the car and his passenger was Baker-Flanders, who is awaiting trial. But he struggled to explain to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer why the victims were being targeted.

“I’m telling you my answer. I don’t know,” Robinson said.

Venzer pressed him to explain. “So I can feel comfortable going to sleep tonight knowing 30 years is an appropriate sentence,” Venzer said.

Ultimately, Robinson said he had gone to the flea market to get a haircut, and was simply following orders from Baker-Flanders, a cousin through marriage. Venzer accepted the plea, while Robinson offered tepid words to Alana’s family.

“I apologize for everything that’s going on,” he said.

The plea deal had been in the works for months — Robinson almost accepted the same deal in January, but backed out. Alana’s family blessed the 30-year sentence, said Miami-Dade prosecutor Nilo Cuervo, of the State Attorney’s Gun Violence Reduction Initiative.

Robinson will not be required to testify against Baker-Flanders.

This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 11:59 AM.