ENDLESS PAYNE
Family places marker on grave of unsolved Chester murder victim
On the second anniversary of his shooting death in Chester, family and close friends of Robert Allen “Robby” Payne gathered at his grave in Chester Township to formally reveal his headstone.
In recognition of Payne’s Jan. 11 birthday, they planned the reveal for exactly at 1:11 p.m.
“To have knowledge of self is the most important asset to a person’s arsenal,” reads a verse on the back of the stone. The words are part of a poem that Payne had written.
“It’s like the reality of it is finally settling in,” Robert Johnson said of the loss of his son.
Payne, 31, of Chester, was in the driver’s seat of his running white Crown Victoria when Chester police, responding to a 911 call, found him near the corner of Third and Kerlin streets in Chester about 7 p.m. on July 4, 2016. Unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body, Payne was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
During an extended interview last week, the 61-year-old father looked back on the last 12 months, which he described as another “year of numbness,” another frustrating year that his son’s murder remains unsolved.
“He was a really nice guy,” Johnson said. “He did not just die. He was murdered. He was cut down. And to this day I know no more about the investigation because it is not going anywhere. They are just waiting for someone to tell
“He was a really nice guy. He did not just die. He was murdered. He was cut down. And to this day I know no more about the investigation because it is not going anywhere. They are just waiting for someone to tell them something, and this is not going to happen.” —— Robert Johnson, Robert Allen Payne’s father “We have a strong working theory which we intend to prove. This is an open case. If information presented itself where we can move forward, we will do so. Right now, we do not have enough information to forward prosecution.” — Chester Police Chief James Nolan IV
them something, and this is not going to happen.
“I am still trying to get my life together,” the father continued. “My heart is broken. It cannot break any more. Then I look at him, and I see my son.”
Johnson is referring to Nasir Allen Payne, his 20-month-old grandson — the son Payne never met.
While the toddler smiled as he sat on his grandfather’s lap and entertained patrons in the Upland Diner, Johnson’s eyes welled up, and his typically
Call 610-447-8420 with tips
commanding voice lowered.
“I will never see my son be a father to his son,” Johnson said. “To see this boy grow up without his father brings me to tears.”
During an interview with the Daily Times in 2016, Johnson said that about 30 rounds were fired and his son was hit seven times with a weapon he described as a type of AK 47. At that time, Johnson suggested his son’s death was a result of mistaken identity – a scenario among many that Chester Police Chief James Nolan IV said was looked at but eventually ruled out. Investigators maintain the motive for his murder was Payne’s relationship with a female from the city area.
Previously, authorities said they believe two individuals were involved in the shooting, and they believe they know who they are but a lack of both a witness and physical evidence prevents arrests.
“We have a strong working theory which we intend to prove,” Nolan said earlier this week. “This is an open case. If information presented itself where we can move forward, we will do so. Right now, we do not have enough information to forward prosecution.”
Nolan strongly urged anyone with information to contact Detective Rhaheem Blanden of the Chester Police Department at 610-447-8420 or Detective Thomas Scarpato of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division at 610-891-4700, or 911.
Several county detectives are continually working on unsolved or “cold” murder cases throughout
Delaware County, according to District Attorney Katayoun Copeland.
“Unsolved homicides are never forgotten cases, and in the District Attorney’s office, we are determined more than ever to bring justice forward. Many of the families of these victims have endured the horror of having their loved one brutally murdered with no closure or resolve. As we uncover new forensic information, including physical evidence, such as DNA, and technology accelerates forward, we are confident that law enforcement will have new opportunities to ensure unresolved cases are continually reexamined and remain open to investigation,” Copeland relayed in a text message Wednesday. “We urge anyone who has information or possible evidence about an unsolved case, to come forward and notify the Delaware County Criminal Investigation’s Homicide Unit, a committed team of detectives who work on active and unsolved cases. Just a simple phone call could help reinvigorate a case and provide vital information that leads directly to the arrest and conviction in a homicide case … Working together, we have a much greater chance to deliver justice for victims who have waited far too long.”
‘My child today, somebody else’s tomorrow’
Payne, a city resident who taught English in the Chester Upland School District, was raised since the age of 5 by his maternal aunt and her husband in Swarthmore, Dorris and Arnold Adams. A 2003 graduate of Strath Haven High School, Payne was a standout athlete in football baseball and track.
Just hours before his death, Payne attended a Fourth of July celebration in Swarthmore, an annual event in his aunt and uncle’s neighborhood. According to his uncle, Payne left between 4:30-5 p.m. to pick up someone, but he intended to return to the festivities.
Johnson said in 2016 that it was his understanding that his son went to Chester to meet a young woman, but she was late to arrive at their meeting destination. She found Payne shot in the call and called 911, the father said.
For Johnson, the lack of movement in his son’s murder probe is disappointing.
“I am extremely disappointed in how this murder investigation is going, and in the unsolved murder rate in Chester overall,” he said.
Citing a 2016 story published by the Philadelphia
Inquirer, Johnson said he was stunned to read that Chester had the highest homicide rate of any city in America, and that only a third of the killings get solved.
“If you want to get away with murder, come to Chester. That’s how things are,” Johnson said, borrowing from the Inquirer’s headline.
“This is a catastrophe,” he said, suggesting that leaders need to do more to get the necessary resources, including additional detectives.
“I am very concerned about the unsolved murder rate, not just my son. There are a lot of people who are hurting, wanting answers that never seem to come. We have to do something different to bring this to the forefront. If people are sleeping, we need to wake them up,” he said. “The city seems not to have the resources to effectively do the job … All Chester seems to have is waiting on someone to tell them something. Chester is full of grieving families waiting on information to resolve their loved one’s murder. But there seems to be no movement.
“It is as though Chester is outdated, working out of a 1705 manual.”
Johnson suggested that the governor, the district attorney and the mayor “sit down and recognize this as a national problem. When it is on that level, funding will come into the city of Chester.
“The mayor and the city council are not screaming loud enough. If they were, I would hear them, and I don’t. They show up at funerals and make promises that are never kept. And the families are left with nothing,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he has not spoken with Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland since his son’s funeral.
“It is a national American problem,” Johnson said of Chester’s murder rate. “The citizens of Chester have the right to be protected.”
Those in charge of protecting the citizens, Johnson said, “are doing a poor job.”
He wondered aloud if the statistics might be different if Chester was not primarily an African-American city.
“It is my child today, somebody else’s child tomorrow,” he said.
Johnson said he has been in contact with the National Action Network, one of the leading civil rights organizations with chapters throughout the United States, founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
“I am trying to get (Sharpton) to come to Chester to bring national attention to the unsolved murder rate,” he said.
Johnson refuses to believe that the necessary resources are not available.
“Maybe I should run for mayor. I think I could get something done,” he said. “I think politics ties peoples’ hands to some degree.”
To date this year, the city of Chester has recorded 10 homicides.
“Hearts are torn out all over the city,” Johnson said of the recent casualties of violence. “This has to stop.”
Regarding the offenders as well as those with knowledge of their whereabouts, Johnson said, “These people are not homeless. They sleep in somebody’s home. They press their head on somebody’s pillow. We need to start talking and turning people in.”
$15,000 reward
Both Mayor Kirkland and Chief Nolan said Wednesday that they understand Johnson’s frustrations, and feel for his family.
“I don’t’ think they really understand the scope of transition we’ve gone through in the police department,” the mayor said, namely the loss of as many as 25 investigative personnel.
“We had to restructure
“I am very concerned about the unsolved murder rate, not just my son. There are a lot of people who are hurting, wanting answers that never seem to come. We have to do something different to bring this to the forefront. If people are sleeping, we need to wake them up.” — Robert Johnson, Robert Allen Payne’s father “We had to restructure the detective unit. Quite frankly, I’m proud of the work our detectives have done this far in solving cases.” — Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland
the detective unit. Quite frankly, I’m proud of the work our detectives have done this far in solving cases,” he said.
Of the 10 homicides cases recorded in Chester this year, arrests were made in two and a third was cleared as justifiable, according to Nolan.
“There are ones back from when I was a detective I wish I could solve, but there is no new evidence. If it’s not there, it’s not there,” Nolan said. “You could have 400 detectives, but if you don’t have the information, you can’t forward a prosecution.”
A 21-year police veteran, Nolan spent 10 years in the detective division.
“Any open case I worked bothers me,” he said.
Nolan sounded off the names of Anthony Lundy (Aug. 7, 2005); Emein Smith (Nov. 13, 2005); James Hamler (June 18, 2007); and Stuart Hoffman, (Dec. 22, 2007).
“That’s just to name a few,” he said.
“Our biggest problem in this city is folks who will not come forward with information,” Kirkland said. “Even some of the shooting victims will not say who their attackers are.”
Kirkland reminded that there is a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a murder in Chester - $10,000 provided by the city, and $5,000 provided by the district attorney’s office.
Additionally, Kirkland said the city is making strides in anti-crime measures, including erecting surveillance cameras in high-crime areas. Some cameras have been installed in the city’s East End, and plans are under way to install cameras in the city’s West End, according to Nolan.
According to Nolan, the city also tested body cameras for officers, but put those on hold.
During the testing process, Nolan said, the city learned that the “most costeffective and crime-effective measure” was to install surveillance cameras throughout the city, and adopted a three-step plan. The next step would be to install dash cameras in patrol vehicles, followed by body cams for officers.
“Body cams are the most expensive with the least crime-solving result,” Nolan said.
As for any promises he’s made at victims’ funerals, Kirkland said, “The only promise I can ever make is that we will do all we can. I have not broken that promise.”
‘Everybody misses him’
A Philadelphia resident, Johnson said he is active in ministry at a number of churches.
As a preacher, Johnson said he’s presided over more funerals than he could ever count.
“I thought I knew this, but it wasn’t until my son was murdered that I know what grief is. It is devastating, even for a pastor,” he said.
“It is my faith in God, and his graces toward me, that I am able to move on. And he’s left a blessing with Nasir,” Johnson said.
According to Nasir’s mother, Payne knew he was going to be the father of a boy. In a text exchange with a friend on Father’s Day in 2016, he teasingly referred to the unborn child as Bron-Bron, after LaBron James.
Noting his son was a huge fan James, Johnson can’t help but wonder what Payne would have thought about the NBA player’s recent move to the Los Angeles Lakers. During their last conversation on July 4, 2016, Johnson said he spoke to his son on the phone. It was about noon, the same time that another NBA star, Kevin Durant, was scheduled to announce his decision about joining the Golden State Warriors.
“We were on the phone when he announced he was going to the Warriors. Robby and I were laughing over how many points they were going to score because of the firepower,” Johnson said in 2017.
Johnson described his son as an ardent basketball fan, and both men enjoyed watching good players like James and Durant. In addition to basketball, Johnson said he and his son shared a love of football. He said Payne would have been thrilled by the Philadelphia Eagles win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
“We would have enjoyed that Super Bowl together,” Johnson said. “We would have been at the parade together. Instead, I was there without him.”
This Fourth of July, Johnson said he would not only be remembering his son, but also Payne’s mother, Rhonda. She committed suicide in January at her residence in Arizona.
“She was overcome by Robby’s death,” Johnson said.
For him, Johnson said losing his son has left “a presence of grief” that is constant, still.
“He is missed. He is so missed on both sides of the family. Everybody misses him,” his father said. “I work very hard to get myself together on a daily basis ...I pray that maybe this will be the day they will find the person who did this. But the clock keeps ticking.”