Family remembers 15-year-old shooting victim who had 'a different soul'

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Monday was 16 years since the birth of Madison Robinson; Tuesday was her funeral.

Robinson died after being shot Aug. 24 on the front porch of her home at 913 Jefferson Ave. in Cape Girardeau.

Scores turned out to pay tribute to the life cut short during the visitation and funeral held Tuesday afternoon at Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church in Charleston. The Southeast Missourian received permission from Robinson’s mother, Martez Johnson, to be present for her daughter’s services.

Johnson said she wants people to remember her daughter’s smile.

Gakhyra Robinson, right, sister of Madison Robinson, reads a poem Tuesday next to her mother, Yameka Robinson, during Madison's funeral service. Jacob Wiegand

“As you can see today, she touched many lives,” Johnson said. “She’s just bright, her smile was just bright.”

Robinson was a sophomore at Cape Girardeau Central High School and had aspirations of eventually becoming a paramedic.

Johnson said her daughter was born in Charleston and then moved to Cape Girardeau six years ago. She said they still attend another church in Charleston, but had services at Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church so they could accommodate more people.

Yameka Robinson said she is Madison’s biological mother, but Johnson raised Madison as her own.

Amya Venson, 16, facing forward, receives a hug after she spoke at the funeral service for Madison Robinson, who Venson said was her best friend and the godmother of her child, Tuesday in Charleston. "She was loving," Venson said of Madison. "She had no hate in her. ... She was full of joy. She was full of fun."Jacob Wiegand

“She was outgoing. She was funny. She was so smart. She was so wise beyond her years,” Yameka said.

After the services and interment at Oak Grove Cemetery in Charleston, Madison’s brother, Rein Robinson of Cape Girardeau, said his sister was “a different soul.”

He described his sister as the type of person people want their daughter to be.

“She was our bright star,” Rein said. “In our dark hole, she was the bright star.”

Since the shooting, Cape Girardeau police have arrested Isaiah M. Lane, 29, in connection with the shooting resulting in Madison’s death. A 20-year-old man who was with Madison on the porch was also wounded.

A mourner puts his hands over his face after going through a procession past Madison Robinson's casket. Jacob Wiegand

Madison’s cousin Alex Gilbert of East St. Louis, Illinois, said his cousin’s death is something that “shouldn’t happen in America.”

“I’ll have people remember this day, today, that a 15-year-old girl is dead in our community,” Gilbert said. “If you want to remember her, remember her as somebody that shouldn’t have died because of the gun violence.”

Madison Robinson's stepmother Sheila Craig places a hand on Madison's casket next to Summar Haggerty, Craig's sister, shortly after the casket was loaded to be taken to the cemetery for burial Tuesday outside Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church. Jacob Wiegand

Johnson said her family has had to deal with several homicides in its history. In addition to her losing her daughter, she said she has lost her youngest brother, two nephews and her son’s father in homicides.

“I never dreamed or never saw this coming,” she said. “Instead of planning her birthday, we had to plan a celebration service.”