Ex-boyfriend killed woman in her New York home: accused 19 years later

James Devore was arrested and extradited from Ohio to New York on suspicion of stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter Erica Robertson, 19 years after the crime that occurred in a home in the Bronx.

Devore (54) was charged yesterday with killing Robertson, who was 28, on November 23, 2005 in the kitchen of his apartment as he was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for his friends and family.

The couple’s 12-year-old daughter found her dead on the floor with a wound to her chest. Also living in the apartment was a young fifteen-year-old daughter of Devore, whom Robertson was raising, she recalled. DailyNews.

Devore, a resident of Mansfield, Ohio, was charged Wednesday with the homicide that occurred nearly two decades ago at an apartment on Grant Ave. near E. 167th St. in Morrisania.

The victim was also a native of Ohio (Columbus) and had lived in NYC for about four years before her death. The young mother was preparing to cook when she was killed with a knife, it was reported at the time, when NYPD mistakenly identified her as having the last name Robinson.

He was a security guard at a homeless shelter in East Harlem and there were no signs of forced entry into the apartment, police said. The motive for the crime is not clear. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Devore was always a suspect, but it took until 2022 for DNA typing to catch up and a match to be made from scrapes under Robertson’s fingernail. An indictment against Devore followed and he was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Ohio in late May, then held until he could be extradited to New York, sources said.

Devore’s attorney, Brian Sullivan, argued that the presence of his client’s DNA was not proof of his guilt since he spent a lot of time with Robertson. He was ordered detained without bail.

A brother of the victim, Phillip Robertson, told the New York Times shortly after the crime Devore had been threatening her and had a key to the apartment that she refused to return after the breakup. She later did not attend Robertson’s funeral and never contacted her family even though she had been raising two of his daughters.

Domestic violence is common in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates and partners, even with minor victims. Every day in NYC, an average of 747 incidents of domestic violence – including assaults, abuse, verbal abuse – and about 65 homicides are reported annually.

Last week a man fatally shot his partner and then himself in Brooklyn (NYC), while his mother and children were at home. An elderly man was previously sentenced to 61 years in prison for killing his ex-wife outside his New Jersey home. Also in May, a couple was found dead with gunshot wounds inside an apartment in Clayton, NJ, and a Latina woman was accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in Manhattan.

Days before, a Latino ex-convict was accused of beating his mother to death in her apartment in the Bronx (NYC). In April, a Hispanic man was accused of brutally killing his girlfriend in Harlem (NYC). It was later learned that he had been deported for drug trafficking in 2002, but returned to the country, according to prosecutors.

If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:

I looked for help

• Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
• Text “WELL” to 65173.
• Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org