Douglas Robinson Jr. is led from the Lycoming County Courthouse following a June 2024 preliminary hearing. MATTHEW COURTER/Sun-Gazette

Just three months shy of five years to the day a 25-year-old mother of two was struck by a stray bullet in the second floor bedroom of her home in the 600 block of Maple Street, the trial for the alleged shooter began in the courtroom of Lycoming County President Judge Eric Linhardt.

Apprehended in June 2024, Douglas Robinson Jr., 24, of Williamsport, faces aggravated assault-attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme difference, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of a weapon and recklessly endangering another person for the Oct. 12 shooting.

He was previously charged with additional counts of criminal attempted homicide and attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, however those charges were withdrawn on Monday.

The shooting occurred around 8:30 p.m. when a white Jeep, with then-19-year-old Robinson riding in the passenger seat, passed a group of individuals he and the driver were not on good terms with, First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade said in his opening statement.

Robinson then pulled a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and fired three shots, two of them striking vehicles, with a third entering an upstairs window and striking an alleged victim, Wade told the jury.

It was not unusual for a shooting to occur after dark in the city, Wade said.

“What is unusual about this case is that a mother who had just put her two children to bed was struck by a bullet that entered her brain,” Wade said.

That victim took the stand during the afternoon’s proceedings, explaining that earlier that day she had accepted a job offer that she was to begin the next day.

The last thing she remembers of that day is putting her children, then aged five and six, to bed before waking up in the hospital around Halloween, unable to speak due to being fitted with a tracheostomy tube, the permanent scar of which she displayed for the jury.

The traumatic brain injury she sustained also rendered her incapable of walking, and she was forced to wear a helmet to protect her head for quite some time.

While in the hospital, the victim caught two infections, one of which necessitated the placing of a PICC line for the delivery of IV antibiotics, leaving her with a permanent hole in her stomach, she said.

Since being released from the hospital on Dec. 6, 2021, the victim has continued to feel effects from the incident, including being unable to write or walk for prolonged periods of time, she said, adding that she was unable to return to work for three years.

During her initial recovery, she was also unable to care for her children, and had a nurse visiting twice a week to administer her antibiotics.

Describing herself as “homebody,” who went to work, came home and spent time with her children, the victim said that she had not received any threats prior to being shot and was not on bad terms with anyone.

On cross examination by defense attorney Matthew Deimer, the victim acknowledged that she did not see the person that shot her.

During his opening argument, Deimer pointed to a lack of evidence directly pinning the crime on Robinson.

“No objective, neutral, unbiased evidence exists that proves my client, Mr. Robinson, pulled the trigger,” Deimer told the jury, arguing that Robinson was not even in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

“You’re going to hear that six weeks after the shooting, a stop was conducted on a white Jeep where Mr. Robinson was a passenger, and that a firearm was found within that vehicle, but evidence in a traffic stop six weeks later is not evidence of wrongdoing in October,” he said.

“I want you to keep an open mind while listening to the evidence, and don’t confuse the two,” he implored the jury.

“The prosecution’s evidence to bridge the gap between the two dates is the testimony of one eye witness,” Deimer said, referring to the driver of the Jeep during the alleged incident.

“But the evidence is going to show that he cannot be believed,” Deimer told the jury, adding that law enforcement “took the easier way out” upon getting the driver’s story.

One of the first to arrive on scene, city police officer William Badger testified that authorities were made aware by the victim’s young daughter that her mother had possibly been shot.

She was then located in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head, breathing, but unresponsive and unable to communicate, he said.

Badger accompanied the victim to UPMC Williamsport, where emergency surgery was performed to remove bullet fragments from the victim’s head, which were then turned over to him, he said.

No firearms were found within the home, he testified.

Under cross examination, Badger acknowledged that he did not take notice of Robinson or any large groups of people in the area and that the child had not identified the shooter.

A single .40 caliber casing was discovered along Memorial Avenue near Banister Place, city police officer Andrew Stevens testified.

Much of the morning’s proceedings focused on lead investigator city Agent Brittany Alexander, who testified that an annonymous tip to the department’s Crime Watch website led investigators to focus on a white Jeep seen on surveilance video from a local community center around the time of the incident.

The vehicle was easily identifiable by its 20 inch rims, and authorities were familiar with the owner, Alexander testified.

An additional tip pointed to that owner as being involved in the shooting, she said.

On Nov. 23, 2021, Alexander spotted the vehicle, with the owner and Robinson, inside and proceeded to seize it.

Even after explaining that the Jeep was now under the possession of police, Robinson tried repeatedly to open the passenger door in order to retrieve his red backpack, Alexander said, adding that at one point, she slammed the door shut to prevent entry.

During a search of the vehicle, police discovered a .40 caliber semi-automatic glock handgun with a round in the chamber and 14 rounds in the magazine, underneath the backpack in the front passenger compartment, she said.

Both the owner of the vehicle and Robinson were under the age of 21 at the time.

Analysis by the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined the casing found near the scene of the crime matched that of the firearm found in the vehicle, Alexander testified.

Police also seized a safe belonging to Robinson from the home of the witness and his girlfriend, as well as Robinson’s cell phone.

Within the safe, police found rubber gloves, an extended round magazine, a digital scale and packaging materials, Alexander testified.

On Robinson’s phone were pictures of himself posing with the handgun found in the vehicle, as well as the witness posing with a handgun.

Despite police being familiar with the driver of the Jeep, an interview was not conducted until April 19, 2024, though Alexander said that was “not for a lack of trying.”

The driver had originally had an interview scheduled in December 2021, but failed to show, Alexander said.

During his 2024 interview, the witness informed police of three alleged intended targets of the incident, however, they are known to be “not law enforcement friendly,” so attempting to interview them would’ve been “pointless,” Alexander said on the stand.

During cross examination by Deimer, Alexander acknowledged that the original tip described the vehicle as a “white SUV,” not a Jeep and that a second tip only contained information as to the driver’s involvement, but did not mention Robinson.

Further, Deimer stressed that a person that had been labeled as a potential suspect was not properly investigated.

That person, a man with whom the victim had separated from the day of the shooting, showed up at the crime scene a short time after the shooting, spoke with police and provided an alibi and samples for a gunshot residue test, which came back negative.

The end of the relationship had been mutual and was not a bad break up, the victim testified.

There was, however, no follow-up interview, despite him being the last person to speak with the victim before the shooting.

When he arrived on scene and initially spoke with police, the ex-boyfriend was “on narcotics,” Alexander added.

Though the victim’s children had made statements to their grandmother relating that the ex-boyfriend had shot the victim, they held little weight.

“They made a lot of statements that didn’t make sense, so that, together with his cooperation, he was ruled out as a suspect,” Alexander said.

Additionally, despite receiving a call during the stop of the Jeep from the owner of the retrieved handgun, no follow-up was done with that individual either, despite the owner’s mother contacting authorities to report the firearm as stolen, Alexander testified under cross examination.

“You didn’t investigate how or when that firearm came to be in the possession of Mr. Robinson,” Deimer asked Alexander.

The trial will continue Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.