Man dies from cancer hours after being charged with murder
ALBANY, N.Y. — Authorities say a New York man accused of fatally shooting another man in Albany earlier this year has died from cancer just hours after being charged.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple tells the Times Union that 30-year-old Taron Robinson died at an Albany hospital late Tuesday night, 10 hours after being charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Christopher Hardy.
Police say Robinson shot the 27-year-old Hardy in April. The Albany Times-Union newspaper reported days later that the two had been involved in a conflict at a party the day Hardy was killed.
CBS affiliate WRGB reports both Robinson and Hardy had ties to Albany's City Hall. Robinson was the nephew of a city councilman Mark Robinson and Hardy was the biological brother of Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan's adopted son. The newspaper reports Taron Robinson was at one time a member of a violent gang called the Jungle Junkies.
Robinson was free under state parole supervision at the time after being released from federal prison in May 2016 when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Police had been looking for him since the shooting and tracked him down to a home in Albany.
Authorities say Robinson was arrested in 2006 as part of a crackdown on Albany gangs and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
