A 53-year-old Gainesville man is spending the rest of his life behind bars after an Alachua County jury convicted him in the 2022 shooting death of a man who had come to his home on Northeast 22nd Street. Dennis Butler was sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 26, nearly four years after prosecutors say he shot Steven Robinson eight times in the yard of the residence where Butler lived.
Judge Peter Sieg handed down the sentence after the jury found Butler guilty of second-degree homicide, according to Alachua Chronicle. Jurors determined that Butler possessed and discharged a firearm, resulting in Robinson’s death, the outlet reported. As WCJB reported, the guilty verdict on the second-degree murder charge came back in October, following the deadly 2022 shooting.
The case traces back to Nov. 8, 2022, when Robinson went to Butler’s home at 110 NE 22nd Street. Per the Alachua Chronicle’s account, Butler shot Robinson eight times before driving away and discarding his cellphone in northeast Gainesville.
Police Found a Man Dying in the Yard
Gainesville police were called to the 100 block of Northeast 22nd Street at about 1:45 p.m. that day, where officers found a man on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a report published at the time by The Gainesville Sun. That man, Robinson, was transported to the hospital, where he died from his injuries, the paper reported.
Butler wasn’t arrested until Nov. 15, on an unrelated charge, and was not formally charged with second-degree homicide until December 2022, the Alachua Chronicle reported. He was later convicted of that charge.
Butler Now Headed Into the State Prison System
Mainstreet Daily News reported Butler’s life sentence. WCJB reported that transfer-related paperwork was filed Wednesday, while Butler’s sentencing hearing was Monday.
More than three years after Robinson was shot in that Gainesville yard, Butler’s sentencing closes out the criminal case.
