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Inset: Ruth Sue Ann Robison (Polk County Sheriff”s Office). Background: Hamza Smajlovic at sentencing hearing for murdering Robison and wounding her husband (KCCI).
An Iowa man has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole after a deadly confrontation where he shot his ex-girlfriend’s parents, resulting in the death of her mother and critical injury to her father. The tragic incident occurred as her parents were helping her move out following a breakup.
Hamza Smajlovic, 25, received a life sentence plus an additional 25 years on Friday for the shooting of Ruth and Tony Robison. The attack took place last year, according to the Polk County Attorney’s Office. Ruth Robison, aged 45, tragically lost her life, while her husband sustained severe injuries. Smajlovic had pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder the previous month.
During the sentencing, the couple’s daughter, Jasmyne Robison, delivered a poignant victim impact statement. She recounted how an incident of Smajlovic choking her in October 2024 was the decisive moment that prompted her to end their “dreadful nine-year” relationship marked by abuse.
“I wish I had never met you,” she expressed to Smajlovic. “I will never regain the time lost with my mother.”
On November 1, 2024, Ruth and Tony Robison, aged 53, were assisting their daughter in moving her belongings out of her residence in the 200 block of NW 51st Place in Des Moines when the tragic event unfolded.
“I grabbed the 9-millimeter and shot Ruth in the head,” he told District Judge Joseph Seidlin when he pleaded guilty last month. “I believe after Ruth, I pointed the gun at Tony, and I shot him in the head as well.”
Polk County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the pair inside with gunshot wounds. Paramedics rushed the victims to the hospital, where doctors pronounced Ruth Robison dead.
At the sentencing hearing, Smajlovic acknowledged the impact his actions had on the Robison family.
“My life wasn’t the only one that was ruined. Many, many lives got ruined,” he said.
Chayse Robison said Smajlovic isolated her sister from the rest of the family, but their mother never stopped trying to rescue her. Her mother was protecting her daughter when she died.
“Her memory is stronger than the man that killed her will ever be. His actions will define him and his family name with shame, but my mother, Ruth Robison, her legacy will be defined by honor,” Chayse Robison said. “She gave her life protecting Jasmyne, and she did so without hesitation.”
The plea deal called for Smajlovic to receive life in prison. The 25-year sentence for attempted murder was set to run concurrently as part of the plea deal, but the judge had other plans. Though it was largely symbolic, Seidlin ordered the sentences to run consecutively.
“By running these counts concurrently, I believe it symbolizes that the unsuccessful attempt to commit murder doesn’t count,” he said, according to local CBS affiliate KCCI. “I can count on one hand the times that I have not gone along with a plea agreement, but I cannot go along with this one.”