Video will honor slain shooting victim

Kandi Kane leads friends and family in making a video on Sept.13, 2024, as a tribute to her niece Benetria Robinson, 19, who died as the result of a shooting at the Cloud 9 nightclub in 2015. The video was organized by Bennie Robinson, Benetria’s dad, and featured the song “The Good Die Young” written by Kane. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]

Family members and friends gathered on Sept. 13 at Lillian Bryant Park in northwest Ocala to film a tribute video for shooting victim Benetria “Nene” Robinson on the ninth anniversary of her death.

About a dozen people, including the victim’s parents, Katina and Bennie Robinson, most of whom were dressed in shirts bearing Benetria’s picture, commemorated their lost loved one with a hip-hop style dance and by speaking lines from the song “The Good Die Young.”

Bennie Robinson organized the video and he thanked and credited Benetria’s aunt, Kandi Kane, who participated in the video, for the song. Dez Frames served as videographer.

“It felt great doing the video. The song Kandi Kane made is excellent. And I think Benetria is looking down saying that’s exactly how she would have expected it to be. She would have loved it,” Bennie Robinson stated in a text after the making of the video.

Bennie Robinson’s highly customized red 1987 Chevrolet Caprice Classic has been themed with artwork and a sign on the car’s front grille reads “The Good Die Young.” The car served as backdrop and the sound system provided the music for the video.

Kimberly Wilkerson of War Cry 4 Peace, an organization that honors victims of gun violence and supports their families, said in a text her group was invited by Bennie Robinson to “be a support to spread awareness about gun violence, and to remember his daughter.”

“Anytime families come together who have been impacted by this type of tragedy, some peace and comfort attributes to their healing process,” Wilkerson stated.

Jaye Jones, who is in the video, said Benetria Robinson always supported his efforts as a sports promoter and comedian.

“She was a beautiful soul,” he said.

Robinson, then 19, was shot and killed at the Cloud 9 nightclub on Sept. 13, 2015. The 2014 Forest High School graduate was home on a break from her studies at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth. She was studying toward a career as a homicide detective.

A Marion County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post states that around 1:30 a.m. that morning, the Marion County Public Safety Communications Center received a call for service in reference to a shooting at the nightclub formerly located at 1910 S. Pine Ave.

Deputies and Ocala Police Department officers arrived to find six people had been shot and Robinson was found just outside the front door of the club, according to an arrest document in the case

Five people were taken to local hospitals and Robinson was declared deceased at the scene. A group of 21 shots had been fired in about five seconds, as heard on a nearby police officer’s body camera, from three weapons as the occupants of the club tried to flee from a fight inside, the document stated,

A Sept. 21, 2015, post on the MCSO Facebook page announced the arrest of then 24-year-old Laquan Ria’Mel Barrow, who was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm in Robinson’s death and, according to Marion County court records, five additional counts of attempted second-degree murder.

An Oct. 26, 2015 “Ocala Star-Banner” article stated Micheal Eugene Smith, then 20, and Gary Edward King, then 20, were both arrested in connection with the Cloud 9 shooting. A Dec. 7, 2017, report indicated King was found not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder.

County court records indicate Barrow was found guilty on one count of second-degree murder-principal, and five counts of attempted second-degree murder-principal, in March 2018 and received six life sentences. He is now confined at Blackwater River Correctional Facility in the Florida panhandle.

Smith, now 29, is incarcerated at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder-principal, and five, 30 -year sentences for five counts of attempted second-degree murder-principal, according to county court records.

County property records indicate that in 2017 the former nightclub property was purchased by Creative Services for use as a domestic violence counseling center and in March of this year was sold to a Naples based company called “1910 Pine LLC.”

Monique “Brandi” Weeks came to pay tribute to her brother, John Marcus Weeks, 33, who was lost to gun violence. Monique Weeks is a member of War Cry 4 Peace.

Benetria’s sister, Ahnistee Brown; Dwayne Hudson, a cousin; and Tamisha Richardson, a friend; were on hand to make the video.

Two of the injured Cloud 9 victims, brother and sister Danielle and Nathanial Kendrick, also joined in the making of the video.

“Wonderful,” Nathanial Kendrick said of the memorial video.

Bennie Robinson said the support by War Cry 4 Peace has been awesome, but the pain remains nine years after the tragedy.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” he said.

Editor’s note: At press time, the video remained in production. This article will be updated online when information about how to view it is provided.

Bennie Robinson’s 1987 custom Chevrolet Caprice Classic is seen on Sept. 13, 2024, during filming of a video to honor his daughter, Benetria Robinson, 19, who died nine years ago as the result of a shooting at the Cloud 9 nightclub. The car’s sound system provided music for the video, with the song “The Good Die Young,” written by Benetria’s aunt. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]