John Jefferson
Left: Ruth Sue Ann Robison (Polk County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Hamza Smajlovic (Polk County Jail).
An Iowa man is behind bars after he allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend’s parents, killing her mother and critically injuring her father, as they were moving her out of the home they shared following a breakup.
It happened around 5:20 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of NW 51st Place in Des Moines. Cops arrested the suspect, 24-year-old Hamza Smajlovic, for murder in the first degree, attempted murder and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. He’s accused of killing 45-year-old Ruth Sue Ann Robison and injuring her 52-year-old husband. The 24-year-old woman and Smajlovic had ended their relationship, and her parents were helping her move out of his house.
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At some point, Smajlovic allegedly opened up fire. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the pair inside suffering from gunshot wounds. Paramedics rushed the victims to the hospital where doctors pronounced Robison dead while her husband remains in critical condition, cops said.
A criminal complaint says he shot Robison once in the head with a 9 mm pistol. He also allegedly shot his girlfriend’s father in the head. Cops allege that he fired the gun into the home as the victims were inside. He apparently remained at the scene after the shooting. His ex-girlfriend was also in the home at the time but was not physically harmed, according to police.
“The defendant did knowingly, intentionally and willingly fire a live 9 mm round into an occupied residence at the victim, while in the commission of a murder and attempted murder of two other victims in the home at the time of the shooting,” the complaint said.
Cops arrested Smajlovic and took him to the Polk County Jail, where he remains without bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12. The incident remains under investigation.
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