Man involved in fatal 2019 shooting sentenced to 5 years in prison

More than a year after pleading guilty to aiding an offender in a fatal 2019 shooting, a man has been sentenced to prison.

Charges for first- and second-degree murder against 22-year-old Dayton Christopher Robinson were dismissed but he was convicted of felony aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact for his role in a shooting in north Minneapolis that left one man dead in November of 2019, according to court filings. A judge sentenced him to five years (60 months) in prison with credit for nearly two years of time served.

According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to the intersection of 47th Avenue North and Lyndale Avenue North at 4:46 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2019, on a report of a shooting. There, they found a man with two gunshot wounds to the head. The victim died a short time later.

The complaint alleges that 20-year-old Xavier Demond Gilleylen chased the victim into an alley and shot him in the head after an apparent car chase and crash. Robinson told police that he was driving the suspect vehicle a few days later.

A woman had planned to meet with Robinson and Gilleylen that day to move, but they didn’t show, the complaint states. The woman spoke with Gilleylen on the phone, whose car he was using, and told him she would report the car as stolen but recanted when told it was involved in a homicide.

Robinson admitted to running to a nearby house where Gilleylen had "stashed" a 9mm handgun, a complaint says. Ultimately, surveillance video identified Robinson and an examination of the gun identified it as the murder weapon.

After nearly two years in custody during his court proceedings, Robinson will receive credit for 727 days of time served out of the five-year sentence.

Gilleylen was also charged with first- and second-degree murder, and he pleaded guilty to both counts in August of last year. He was found guilty of both charges on Oct. 28 and will be sentenced in December.