By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Donald Victor Robin Jr.

ROCHESTER — A Rochester teen who plotted a Columbine-type massacre in Fulton County has had his prison sentence modified.

Donald Victor Robin Jr., 19, Rochester, was sentenced in March 2021 for conspiracy to commit murder, a level 2 felony. He received 17 years in the Indiana Department of Correction, with eight years executed and nine years suspended.

Robin’s co-defendant, John Lawrence Schultz IV, 20, Rochester, was sentenced in March 2022 on a conspiracy to commit murder charge. He first took his case to trial in July 2021; however, after about seven hours of deliberation, the jury reached an impasse, resulting in a mistrial. Schultz took his case to trial again in February 2022. After the jury deliberated for nearly eight hours, the state of Indiana, Schultz, and Schultz’s attorneys agreed to a resolution for the case.

For conspiracy to commit murder, Schultz was ordered to serve three years on probation. He has about 1 1/2 years of jail time credit in his case. If Schultz violates any of his rules of probation, he could potentially serve up to 18 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

According to court documents, on July 13, 2020, the Rochester Police Department was notified by an anonymous informant that “Johnny Schultz IV and some friends are planning a school massacre…they have a bunch of guns and they are waiting for school to open to ‘kill a bunch of kids.'”

The informant visited Schultz and Robin several times and saw them smoking methamphetamine during their conversations.

Dating back to May 12, 2020, Schultz posted several veiled threats on his two Facebook pages, including a graphic of a partial skeleton and a photo collage with an image of Columbine shooter Eric Harris.

Robin’s Facebook page featured a photo of Harris’s accomplice, Dylan Klebold, shooting a gun. Schultz and Robin were Facebook friends and exchanged messages about their plans beginning April 20, 2020, the 21st anniversary of the Columbine shooting.

The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., happened after Harris and Klebold went on a shooting spree, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others, before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide.

In an Aug. 6, 2019, message exchange, Robin wrote, “I wish I could kill as many people as I could” and said such a massacre was “something that I actually had an itch for when I used to go to school.”

Before that, on June 28, 2019, Robin wrote, “Believe me, I’m a psychopath, and I’d love to be a murderer.”

In an Aug. 18, 2019, message, Robin said he would wear an outfit similar to those worn by the Columbine shooters.

Robin also made Internet searches of “quotes school shooting” and “school shootings.”

A hearing on a motion to modify Robin’s sentence was held in Fulton Circuit Court on April 18. After the hearing, the court took the matter under advisement.

An order granting Robin’s request was filed on April 22. He will serve the remaining balance of his executed sentence on in-home detention with electronic monitoring with Fulton County Community Corrections. Robin will remain on in-home detention until June 30, 2026. He was released from custody on April 28.

After the in-home detention term, Robin will serve three years on probation. Special terms Robin must follow include:

• Not possessing or being in the presence of firearms;
• No contact, direct or indirect, with Schultz; and administration, staff, or students at Rochester Community and Caston Schools;
• Not participating, viewing or posting on social media;
• Not residing within 1,000 feet of property owned by Rochester Community or Caston Schools.

In granting the modification, the court made the following observations:

• Robin was purposefully incarcerated as part of his plea agreement and the court’s sentence. As a result, the court agreed to consider a sentence modification upon Robin’s completion of substance abuse treatment while in DoC.
• Robin successfully completed substance abuse treatment while at DoC.
• Robin was previously on in-home detention with substantial restrictions as part of his pre-trial release.
• Robin had no violations during his pre-trial release on home detention or while in DoC.
• Robin cooperated fully with the state in the case against Schultz.
• Robin was assaulted and threatened while at DoC because he cooperated with the state.
• The State recommended and supported a sentence modification that does not include Robin returning to DoC.
• The State no longer believes that Robin poses a threat to the community if released with restrictions to community corrections and probation. The court agreed with that assessment.
• The court noted Robin faces a substantial term of incarceration if he violations any conditions with his in-home detention or probation, which he will be under the direct supervision of until the summer of 2029.