Jocelyn Jackson works hard every year to keep alive the story of her brother, John Evers Robinson, a New Haven punk rocker who was killed in his Temple Street music studio on March 12, 1990, at the age of 24. She has created a podcast series that bears the name of Robinson’s former band, Sold On Murder. She has posted his only album online for the world to hear. She has traveled from her home in California to New Haven for a reunion with Robinson’s friends — to reminisce and learn more about her late brother and eat at the same table at Mamoun’s where Robinson used to sit . She has also stayed in close contact with the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) — pressing for new leads that might help find Robinson’s killer and close the 36-year-old cold case. After Robinson’s father died last year — and with Jackson’s and Robinson’s mom now 86 years old — Jackson took to change.org in December to create an online petition calling on the state to increase the reward it will pay for information that leads to solving Robinson’s murder. “Now that witnesses and persons of interest are in their 50’s and 60’s we hope they can find the courage to come forward,” Jackson wrote. She also wrote that she is still trying to get her hands on all case files related to the investigation into Robinson’s murder. “John’s father passed away the day before John’s death anniversary last year,” she wrote. “Our mom holds the possibility of justice in her heart and wants John’s life, death, and legacy to be honored by releasing these documents or increasing the award for new leads that could finally get us answers.” That petition garnered more than 1,000 signatures of support. And, on June 2, New Haven State’s Attorney John Doyle and New Haven Police Chief David Zannelli announced that Gov. Ned Lamont has authorized increasing the reward from $20,000 to $50,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Robinson’s murder. “Members of the public should never underestimate the importance of what they know or assume that investigators already have that information,” Doyle is quoted as saying in a June 2 press release. “Even a seemingly small detail can be the critical piece that helps investigators solve a case and bring about a successful prosecution.” “We never forget our unsolved cases, and we are grateful to the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, New Haven State’s Attorney Doyle, and the Governor’s Office for their assistance in increasing the dollar amount of this reward in hopes of generating new information to reenergize this investigation,” Zannelli is quoted as saying. “It’s really incredible to have this happen,” Jackson said during a Zoom interview with the Independent on Thursday. She said this is about more than just an increase to the state’s reward. This is about providing “a renewed presence of his case. … There is momentum created by it. There is amplification of his story.” Jackson, who runs a food-justice organization called People’s Kitchen Collective, was 15 years old at the time of Robinson’s murder in 178 Temple St., Suite 208, which he used as a music studio. “The music is really the point of what John’s life was,” Jackson said. That’s why she put his album online. That’s why she reaches out to different punk groups to cover Robinson’s songs. That’s why she’s trying to fund a scholarship in her brother’s name for young musicians. That’s why she’s trying to create a community center named after Robinson that can “be about music and wellness.” Jackson said that her brother “didn’t always make the best decisions about how he was trying to get his music into the world.” The New Haven Advocate reported at the time that Robinson was “reputed to be a small-time pot seller” who may have been putting together a few thousand dollars for “one final drug score” to help fund the production of a record. Robinson’s murder may have resulted from a robbery attempt of that money intended for drugs intended to pay for the album. Click here to read a 2022 article by the Independent’s Laura Glesby about Jackson’s quest for answers around the 32nd anniversary of her brother’s murder. Asked if she has a personal favorite among his recorded songs, Jackson said she prefers listening to the album all the way through. Some of Johnson’s music is “personal and tender, some political. … I appreciate listening to the entire story” of the album. “His story is so much bigger than the way he died,” Jackson continued. She said she remains awed by how many friends Robinson made after moving from Kansas to New Haven to be with his dad in the 1980s. “He was surrounded by hundreds of people,” she said. “I want that to be the story told, too.” Why does she think the police and state prosecutors should act with urgency now to close a murder case that has been cold for over three decades? “I think the urgency comes from not knowing,” Jackson said. “Not knowing for 36 years is the equivalent of him being killed every day. There’s no time that passes when a crime is not knowable, not solvable.” But as of now, “we only know that he died. We don’t know the other side of that story.” Perhaps this increased reward will help provide some answers she’s been looking for for so long. Anyone with information related to the death of John Robinson should contact the New Haven Police Department at 1-888-888TIPS or 203-946-6296 or Text “Tips” to 274637.   The post Reward Raised To $50K For Info On Punk Rocker’s 1990 Murder appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less