Hamza Smajlovic, 25, from Iowa, was sentenced to life in jail after pleading guilty to the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mum and the attempted murder of her dad
A man has been jailed for life after he shot his ex-girlfriend’s mother dead and injured her father.
Hamza Smajlovic, a 25-year-old Iowa man, was sentenced last Friday (November 21) to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty in October to murder and attempted murder. Polk County prosecutors said Smajlovic had previously choked his ex-girlfriend, Jasmyn Robison, at their home in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital.
Jasmyn said the attack was the “final straw”, prompting her to end the relationship after what she called a “dreadful nine years”, prosecutors said. Her parents, Tony and Ruth Robison, came to help her move out of their home when Smajlovic shot them on November 1, 2024.
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Mrs Robison, 45, of Urbandale, was killed, and Mr Robison was critically injured when the pair were shot in the head. According to prosecutors, Smajlovic said in court: “I grabbed the 9-millimetre and shot Ruth in the head.” He added: “I believe after Ruth, I pointed the gun at Tony, and I shot him in the head as well.”
Jasmyn spoke at the sentencing hearing, along with five other members of the Robison family, according to prosecutors. “Her memory is stronger than the man that killed her will ever be,” Chayse Robison, Jasmyn’s sister, said. “His actions will define him and his family name with shame, but my mother, Ruth Robison, her legacy will be defined by honour. She gave her life protecting Jasmyne, and she did so without hesitation.”
“I wish I never met you,” Jasmyn Robison told Smajlovic at his sentencing. “I will never get the time back with my mother.”
Jasmyn said she never told her family the extent of the abuse she suffered until she decided to leave. Smajlovic is said to have apologised to the family, telling the court: “My life wasn’t the only one that was ruined. Many, many lives got ruined.”
Tony Robison also read a poem from his daughter Chayse, which included the lines: “My yellow rose, once only a symbol of my love, Has now become your eternal sign, Golden petals of courage, Such a soft reminder of the love you gave this world, A love so strong it outlives everything, My yellow rose now forever in bloom.”
Smajlovic was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 25 years for the shooting. He pleaded guilty on October 27 this year, the day he was due to stand trial, to first-degree murder and attempted murder.
District Judge Joseph Seidlin sentenced Smajlovic to consecutive terms, calling them symbolic. He said the shootings of Ruth and Tony were “separate and distinct acts, separate attempts to needlessly take lives of two human beings.” The judge added: “It’s not just Ruth’s death that has shaken this family to its core, it’s what has happened to Tony as well.”
