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| Abraham Roberts: Of Johnston, Iowa
The trial of the Liberian man from Johnston, Iowa accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend last year will hinge on what the defendant was thinking at the time. The defense is not disputing that Abraham Roberts, 39, shot and killed his girlfriend/mother of his children, 34-year-old Agnes Yarlee of Johnston, in their apartment on April 15. "Obviously, this is not a 'whodunit,'" said defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown. "This is a simple: 'How could this possibly happen?'"
Brown said the answer to that question includes prior trauma in Roberts' life, an escalating verbal argument with Yarlee, several drinks of gin, and a gun — factors that added up to "a senseless tragedy."
"The evidence is only going to show sudden, violent, irresistible passion and the total absence — the total absence — of premeditation, any forethought, rationality," Brown said in his opening statement at the Polk County Courthouse on Tuesday.
Roberts has been charged with first-degree murder in Yarlee's death and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Roberts' lawyers are asking the jury to find Roberts guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a lesser offense that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
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| Sunday Morning, April 16, 2017 At The Providence Pointe Apartments in Johnston, Des Monies Iowa where Agnes Yarlee was shot to death by Abraham Roberts the night before.
The criteria of "sudden, violent and irresistible passion" is central to the defense's strategy. To secure a first-degree murder conviction, prosecutors must show Roberts' actions were premeditated. In his opening statement, Assistant Polk County Attorney Michael Salvner said Roberts and Yarlee lived together in their apartment with Yarlee's four children, including the youngest, who was Roberts' child as well. The two were arguing when Yarlee's mother told her to sit down on the couch so Roberts could calm down.
Instead, Salvner said Roberts walked into the bedroom, retrieved his 9mm Smith and Wesson semiautomatic pistol and shot Yarlee five times, stopping to clear a jam in the gun after the first two shots. One of the shots struck Yarlee on the top of her head, traveling through her brain and killing her instantly.
"He shot and killed this woman, executed her in front of her family, in front of her four children, while his baby, a five-month-old, was between her knees in a child bouncer," he said.
Police were first called to the Providence Pointe Apartments, 6220 N.W. 106th St., in Johnston, at around 8 p.m. on a report of domestic violence.
About one minute later, additional 911 calls came in, reporting gunshots at the same location. Responding officers found Yarlee, who died at the scene.
After the shooting, Salvner said Roberts hid the gun under some clothes in his laundry hamper, checked to see that no police were outside and fled north. Law enforcement did not know who was in the apartment at the time of the shooting and moved cautiously in their response for fear of encountering a hostage situation, Salvner said. That allowed Roberts to get away, he said.
"The evidence is going to show that this defendant attempted to flee the country," Salvner said. "He drove all the way to the Canadian border and attempted to cross."
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Roberts was spotted at the Canadian border the next day and was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in International Falls, Minnesota. He was was extradited to Iowa in May and has been held at the Polk County Jail while awaiting trial.
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