Tony Robinson Jr.

Tony Robinson Jr., 19, an unarmed Black teenager, was shot seven times and killed by Madison, Wisconsin Police Officer Matt Kenny on March 6, 2015, in the stairwell of an apartment building on Williamson Street. Kenny had responded to a call about a man behaving erratically; a friend had told 911 dispatchers that Robinson, who had taken psychedelic mushrooms and other substances, was not known to carry weapons. Kenny said Robinson attacked him at the top of the stairs and that he fired at point-blank range, but dashcam footage and forensic reports in the family's civil suit raised questions about whether some shots were fired after Robinson was already down. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne declined to charge Kenny in May 2015, the department cleared him, and the city's insurer settled the family's federal suit for $3.35 million in 2017. A 2023 effort to have a judge order charges ended when the judge ruled he lacked authority to appoint a special prosecutor. No one has ever been charged in Robinson's death.

Madison, WI · Dane County

• 2015: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The call, the shooting, and the investigative outcome, per reporting by the Cap Times, Isthmus, CNN, and Channel 3000, and the Dane County District Attorney's public decision.
• On March 6, 2015, Officer Matt Kenny responded to a call about Robinson, who had taken psychedelic mushrooms and other substances; a friend told 911 dispatchers that Robinson was not known to carry weapons, and Robinson was unarmed.
• Kenny said Robinson attacked him at the top of the stairs at 1125 Williamson Street and that he shot at point-blank range; he fired seven shots, and all seven struck Robinson.
• Dashcam footage suggests some shots were fired after Robinson's feet appeared in the doorway, indicating he may already have been on the ground; forensic reports filed in the family's civil suit said shell casings were found at the bottom of the steps or outside the apartment, which the family says contradicts Kenny's account.
• On May 12, 2015, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced that Kenny would not be charged, concluding he acted lawfully; the Madison Police Department separately cleared Kenny of violating professional standards.
• In 2017, the City of Madison's insurer settled the family's federal civil rights suit for $3.35 million, the largest such settlement in Wisconsin history at the time; it included no admission of wrongdoing and barred Robinson's mother from further action against Kenny.
• In 2023, Robinson's grandmother, Sharon Irwin-Henry, used a rarely invoked Wisconsin statute to ask a judge to find probable cause and issue a homicide complaint; seven judges recused before Judge Stephen Ehlke heard it, and on June 30, 2023 he dismissed the petition, saying that even assuming probable cause existed, he had neither the statutory nor inherent authority to appoint the special prosecutor needed to bring the case.
• As of March 2025, Kenny remained employed by the Madison Police Department in its training division, where he has worked since the summer of 2015; Robinson's family planned to bring a complaint before the Police and Fire Commission seeking his firing.
• Robinson's death helped drive local changes, including a revised use-of-force policy emphasizing preservation of life, a Police Civilian Oversight Board, an Office of the Independent Monitor, and expanded de-escalation and crisis intervention training.

• Whether Robinson attacked Kenny at the top of the stairs, as Kenny stated, or whether some or all of the shots were fired after Robinson was already down, as the family's forensic reports and the dashcam footage suggest, has never been tested at a criminal trial.
• Why shell casings were reportedly found at the bottom of the steps or outside the apartment, rather than where Kenny's account would place them, has not been resolved in any public proceeding.
• Whether any further legal avenue remains open to the family to seek criminal charges after the 2023 dismissal is not confirmed in the sources reviewed for this summary.

• Cap Times — “The story behind an eight-year fight for justice for Tony Robinson”
• Channel 3000 — “Judge dismisses petition to bring charges against officer who killed Tony Robinson”
• Isthmus — “Tony Robinson, 10 years gone”
• CNN — “Prosecutor: No charges for officer in Tony Robinson case”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs