Arrest made in 13-year-old cold-case homicide

In 2018, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office’s chief cold case detective told me TPSO was determined to make an arrest in the Jamin Robinson murder case. Last week, they did precisely that.

According to Lt. Ethan Dunn, sheriff’s deputies traveled to Chambers County, Texas, one week ago and transported home Montrey Trevell Paige, Jamin Robinson’s former schoolmate and neighbor.

Friday, February 10, at 2:41 in the afternoon, TPSO booked Montrey Paige – now a 30-year-old Hammond construction worker – into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail. Investigators charged him with second-degree murder, multiple failure-to-appear counts, and one charge of jumping bail.

“Montrey was our neighbor,” Jamin Robinson’s sister, Chasity Jackson, told me Thursday. “He regularly moves back and forth from Texas,” she said, “And I think they charged him with some crimes there, too.”

In 2008, a 15-year-old Montrey Paige made headlines volunteering to set up campsites for the Summer Safety Crime Prevention Retreat inside Fontana Road Park in Independence. Montrey Paige next made the news in 2010 as the kid who reported finding his friend, Jamin Robinson, unconscious near a roadside ditch.

Minutes before 11, Friday night, July 23, 2010, emergency responders examined Jamin LaRod Robinson on the shoulder of Kemp Street in Independence, north of the intersection of Kemp and 2nd Street, close to his home on nearby Kraft Road.

The victim had no open wounds, and investigators found no blood at the scene.

An ambulance rushed Jamin to Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center. The Independence hospital diagnosed him with multiple head injuries and transferred him to St. Tammany Medical Center for surgery.

Jamin Robinson died at New Orleans University Hospital the following Sunday, and the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner’s Office scheduled an autopsy the next day. The examiner found Jamin’s death resulted from internal, closed head injuries “consistent with being stricken by a slow-moving vehicle.”

Since 2010, police have investigated the presumed hit-and-run case as a homicide.

Five years ago, Independence Police Chief Frank Edwards III told me investigators had no suspects or motives. Still, he felt someone in the community knew what had happened.

“I’m still hoping media coverage will cause that someone to do the right thing,” he said, “and bring resolution to Robinson family members. It only takes one phone call.”

In 2017, lacking the resources to pursue the case further, the Independence Police Department sought assistance from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Crime Stoppers Director Jodie Powell told Bayou Justice the following year, “I would love to give this family some peace. Chief Edwards and Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives continue to explore all tips. Still, the number of leads has dwindled significantly.” 

When the leads stopped, the homicide landed with cold case detective Mike Sticker.

Five years ago, Chief Sticker told me he agreed with Jodie Powell. “It’s time this family saw some justice,” he said. “And we won’t leave this case until they do.”

“Over the years, TPSO veteran and cold case detective Mike Sticker has persistently looked over the facts in this case alongside Independence Police Chief Frank Edwards III and continued to actively work leads and interview Robinson’s friends, family, and known acquaintances,” said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Jimmy Travis. “A break in the case came when Sticker identified and located an eyewitness who finally came forward with information.”

Although Montrey Paige is innocent until proven otherwise, justice appears to have arrived last week.

“Although Paige’s arrest won’t bring Jamin back, we’re hoping it brings a sense of peace and closure for his family and friends,” Chief Travis said.

When police began investigating Jamin Robinson’s death in 2010, it was Independence’s first homicide in eight years.

On January 9, 2002, the Independence Police Department found the body of a 65-year-old Texas native, Alvin Marshall Brooks, inside his residence on Webster Street. The coroner’s report listed his cause of death as “blunt force trauma and strangulation.”

Today, the Alvin Brooks homicide is still unsolved. However, like the Jamin Robinson case, one call from a good Samaritan could provide closure for the Brooks family. It is never too late for justice.

If you can help, please phone cold case detective Mike Sticker at 985-419-0976, or if you prefer anonymity, call Crime Stoppers of Tangipahoa Parish at 1-800-554-5245.