Inset: Trenton Robinson (Palm Beach County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The house where Robinson allegedly shot a 17-year-old in Boynton Beach, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida man is behind bars for shooting and killing a teenager who tried to break up an argument, police in the Sunshine State say.
Trenton Robinson, 24, stands accused of second-degree murder with a firearm, according to Palm Beach County court records.
The incident occurred on Dec. 28 at a residence on Northwest Ninth Avenue in Boynton Beach – a medium-sized city that is part of the broader Miami metro area.
Late that morning, police arrived in response to a shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Upon arrival, deputies found Josiah Jones, 17, suffering from a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Paramedics rushed him to Delray Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
Investigators determined Robinson was picking up his toddler son from his mother’s house, police said. During the exchange, the mother and father began arguing. As the argument escalated, the 17-year-old “attempted to separate” the adults, according to the affidavit.
In the process, Robinson and the teen “grabbed a hold of one another,” according to the charging document. The pair “ended up on a bed still holding one another and that is when Josiah was shot.”
Police say Robinson was taken into custody there and “spontaneously uttered” an admission of sorts: “I f–d up. It was an accident.”
Detectives also interviewed the mother of the slain boy, who said she overheard her daughter and the defendant arguing and asked Josiah to go downstairs and separate them. The woman said she then went downstairs herself, heard a “pop,” and saw her son fall to the ground. Josiah’s mother next recalled her daughter saying: “You just shot my brother.”
Investigators also spoke with the sister of the victim. She said Robinson came to pick up his son when they began arguing. The sister said the argument “ended up getting loud but not physical.”
She said Josiah got in between her and Robinson and that her brother grabbed the defendant. As the two fell on the bed, Josiah allegedly held Robinson in a “bear hug,” according to the charging document.
The sister relayed the final moments as follows:
[Robinson] was trying to get up and saying, “get off me.” [Robinson] then removed a gun from his pocket and shot Josiah in the stomach. [The sister] stated that [Robinson] and Josiah were grabbing on to each other and not physically fighting or punching each other. After the shooting, [Robinson] stated, “he should have got off me.”
Police interviewed a second sister who offered much the same account of the day. She said she was the one who took the toddler out of the room during the argument and heard the shooting but did not see what happened, according to the affidavit.
The defendant, for his part, insisted the shooting was accidental in a custodial interview after being Mirandized.
“[Robinson] stated he was trying to remove the gun from his sweatshirt pocket because he did not want to shoot himself,” the affidavit reads. “While he removed the gun it went off accidentally. [Robinson] stated that the firearm was in his sweatshirt pocket and was not holstered.”
Police also noted that Robinson – in 911 call audio and at the scene of the crime – repeatedly said the shooting was an “accident.”
In a follow-up interview, the toddler’s mother reiterated that Josiah and Robinson “were not engaged in a physical fight and it did not appear that Josiah was hurting [Robinson] in any way,” according to the affidavit. She further said, “There was no reason for [Robinson] to pull his gun out.”
The defendant is being detained in the Palm Beach County Jail without bond. He is slated to appear in court on Feb. 26, 2026.
