A Cleveland jury is now deciding whether Robbie Cayson murdered a man his own family once called a nephew. Cayson is charged with aggravated murder in the September 2021 shooting death of Diontae Wallace and attempted murder in the wounding of Jovanna Brown, along with a string of other charges tied to the same night.
The case centers on a Sept. 29, 2021 shooting at a house on the 11700 block of Lenacrave Avenue, where Wallace and Brown had gone to visit while riding in a Polaris Slingshot, according to Cleveland.com. Prosecutors say Cayson and another man opened fire on the pair, and attorneys delivered closing arguments Tuesday, leaving jurors to sort through dueling accounts of what happened that night.
Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Karkutt built the state's case around physical evidence placing Cayson at the gathering and testimony from Brown identifying him as the shooter, the outlet reports. Brown can be heard telling a 911 dispatcher, “The guy that shot me, his name is Robbie Cayson,” in a call played for jurors. She testified that she was shot four times in the head and survived, and said she heard another voice distract Wallace moments before he was shot in the back of the head.
Forensic Evidence Points to Two Shooters
Forensic evidence presented at trial showed Wallace was shot by two separate guns, and that a gunman stood over him and shot him in the head, the news outlet's report states. Video evidence showed two people fleeing the scene and jumping into a getaway car that prosecutors said was already running when they reached it.
Text messages introduced at trial showed Cayson had invited Wallace to the Lenacrave Avenue home, and prosecutors say Cayson texted Wallace from a new phone number just one day before the killing. Karkutt said Cayson never disclosed who he was working with, who left the crime scene with him, or who distracted Wallace before the shots were fired.
Defense Says Cayson Was Present but Not the Shooter
Defense attorney Daniel Tirfagnehu told jurors his client was at the house that night but was not involved in the shooting, arguing instead that someone else shot both Wallace and Brown. Tirfagnehu challenged Brown's identification directly, saying the trauma of the shooting led her to get several details of the story wrong.
The defense offered its own theory for why Wallace was targeted. Tirfagnehu said Wallace and seven codefendants had faced a federal fraud case, and that Wallace had agreed to be a cooperating witness, citing FBI witness testimony. Tirfagnehu said a price was placed on Wallace's head once people learned he was cooperating, and defense attorneys told jurors Wallace was killed because he had snitched. Cayson was not a codefendant in that federal fraud case, per the defense's account.
Cayson took the stand on Monday and insisted he had nothing to do with the shooting, saying he didn't know who was responsible. He is accused by prosecutors of luring Wallace to the gathering, though his testimony pushed back directly against that allegation.
A Friendship That Turned Into a Murder Case
What makes the case especially painful for those close to it is the relationship between the two men at its center. Cayson and Wallace were childhood friends, and Wallace's father considered Cayson his nephew, while Cayson considered Wallace his cousin. Cayson's mother attended Wallace and Brown's wedding in 2020, and Tirfagnehu described the two men as essentially two parts of the same family.
Cayson fled after the shooting, and authorities had searched for him since November 2021. According to a U.S. Marshals Service release, members of the Western Kentucky Fugitive Task Force and the Louisville Metro Fugitive Unit arrested Cayson, 37, in Kentucky on June 1, 2026, nearly five years after the killing. Jury selection in his trial began in early November, Cleveland.com reported in a separate article on the case.
With closing arguments now finished, the jury is left to weigh the physical evidence, Brown's identification, and Cayson's own denial before reaching a decision on the charges against him.
