Robin Robertson’s father, James Robertson, said he was concerned when she called him from the Yazoo County jail on Friday, Feb. 24. She would never speak with him again; the father of eight children died under unknown circumstances in the jail the next day at 55 years old.
Lakeisha Robertson told the Mississippi Free Press what her sister had shared with her about the last conversation with their father, including that he said there was “a lot of shit going on up in here” and that “these M.F.s was crazy and I’m going to just leave it alone.” She said their father did not elaborate on what he meant or who he was referring to at the time.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is examining the circumstances of his death and provided the Mississippi Free Press with a redacted report on March 17. It shows that Yazoo County Sheriff Jake Sheriff called the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to come to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Yazoo City, Miss., after officials discovered Robertson unresponsive at the jail at 11:13 p.m. on Feb. 25.
The last time Lakeisha Robertson saw him was after a short release on Feb. 2 following a seven-month stint in jail for a DUI offense, she told the Mississippi Free Press. She and her siblings previously lost their mother in 2016.
Lakeisha Robertson shared her father’s release paper printout from the Yazoo County Jail, which shows the county released him at 3:35 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2023. James Robertson’s scheduled release was listed as July 22, 2022, the same day Yazoo City Police Department booked him. The document says he was arrested on 1 “count,” but does not cite a crime or a sentence. It lists a $10,000 bond.
James Robertson’s release paper showed he was booked on July 22, 2022, for an unstated crime. Photo courtesy Lakeisha Robertson
During the seven months James Robertson was in jail previously, Lakeisha Robertson said she could not get any answers for why he was there without being released on bond. Two of James Robertson’s children eventually paid $410 towards his parole