- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Clearlake Oaks woman ordered to stand trial for killing ex-boyfriend
Following a Wednesday morning preliminary hearing, Judge J. David Markham ordered Tammy Grogan-Robinson, 57, to be held for trial for killing Charles Vernon McClelland.
McClelland, 56, of Rohnert Park, died after being shot four times in the torso by Grogan-Robinson early on the morning of July 7.
She was taken into custody in Missouri, where she has family, in August on an arrest warrant issued by the Lake County Superior Court, and extradited back to Lake County.
Grogan-Robinson entered a not guilty plea in the case last month. She is represented by Lakeport attorney Mitch Hauptman.
Grogan-Robinson initially told investigators that she shot McClelland in self-defense after he sexually assaulted her in her unit of the duplex he owned on Island Circle Drive in Clearlake Oaks.
However, in the testimony presented on Wednesday, it was stated that Grogan-Robinson had shot McClelland multiple times as she pursued him through the house.
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Rich Watson called four witnesses: Kenneth Hobbs, who had become friends with Grogan-Robinson after meeting her on an adult dating app, and Lake County Sheriff’s detectives Jeffrey Mora, Todd Dunia and Richard Kreutzer, all of whom were involved in the investigation of McClelland’s death.
Hauptman called no witnesses of his own, instead conducting a brief cross examination of each of the four men who took the stand.
Watson questioned Hobbs, an El Dorado County resident, about his interactions with Grogan-Robinson, who he had met earlier this year on an adult dating site that he said was more for “sexual hookups.”
She posted pictures of herself in lingerie and they texted for several weeks, talking about sex and meeting up.
Over the July 4 weekend she texted Hobbs, telling him that her ex-boyfriend — McClelland — was there and that they had become sexually involved again.
On the night of July 6, Grogan-Robinson sent Hobbs the first of several texts in which she said she was going to shoot her ex-boyfriend in the face. Hobbs said Grogan-Robinson was upset that McClelland was texting his then-girlfriend.
Hobbs said she sent five more texts, and their lengthy exchange discussed her being upset. She also said more than once that she was going to kill McClelland.
She then asked Hobbs to delete the messages. He asked why, and told her even if he did, they could be retrieved from the cell carrier.
When she first brought up shooting McClelland, Hobbs said he thought she was joking. “I told her she should not do it.”
The texts continued until late on the night of July 6.
The next morning, they had their first phone call when Grogan-Robinson called Hobbs to say she had shot McClelland and that he was dead.
She told Hobbs that McClelland had entered through her bedroom window, that her handgun was on the nightstand and there was a struggle for it, that he had sexually assaulted her and she shot him.
Hobbs said he told her that they ought not to be speaking to each other, because he said he knew she was facing legal actions, and he was looking out for her as well as for himself.
Grogan-Robinson, who was staying in a hotel room after the shooting, also texted Hobbs to ask him to come and see her.
Hobbs said he saved screenshots of their text exchanges as a precaution but didn’t call law enforcement, stating that he believed that they would find him. They eventually contacted him and he provided them with the screenshots of the texts.
Detectives testify about investigation
Mora said he responded to Sutter Lakeside Hospital on the morning of July 7 to interview Grogan-Robinson, who told him she had been sexually assaulted and then shot the person.
“She stated that she was in an on-and-off relationship with Mr. McClelland for about five years,” and that they had broken up in March, Mora said.
Grogan-Robinson lived in Unit A of the residence and McClelland lived in Unit B; while he was her landlord, he lived primarily in Rohnert Park. He came up to Lake County on July 2 and they were periodically hanging out.
She told Mora that she and McClelland didn’t have consensual sex during that visit, and that while he had suggested they should she declined because he had another girlfriend.
On the night of July 6, they had dinner and drinks, she had marijuana edibles and he smoked marijuana before going back to his residence, which she assumed was because he was texting his girlfriend.
She said that around midnight early on July 7, she was in bed and woke up to McClelland entering her bedroom. He had a 9 millimeter handgun that belonged to her and forced her at gunpoint to have sex with him.
Grogan-Robinson said she fell asleep and woke up shortly before 6:30 a.m. when her phone vibrated due to receiving a text from her job supervisor.
That’s when she saw the firearm on the bedside table opposite from where she was lying. She said she got up to put it away and McClelland came into the room and asked her if she was ready to go again.
In her statement to Mora, she said she told McClelland no, cursed at him, grabbed the firearm and began shooting as he walked toward her. Mora noted she said nothing about struggling with McClelland for the gun — a claim she’d made to others — and estimated she shot three to five rounds.
Mora said Grogan-Robinson underwent a sexual assault exam at the hospital and her home was processed for evidence.
When Deputy Joe Lyons collected the sexual assault kit at the hospital the nurse told him there were no physical findings of sexual assault. However, as of Wednesday, Mora said the sheriff’s office hadn’t received the Department of Justice’s analysis of the kit.
Det. Dunia said when responding deputies arrived at Grogan-Robinson’s residence, they found McClelland’s body just inside the front door.
Dunia said he believed one of the shots was made in the master bedroom, but he wasn’t sure if it was that shot that made a hole in the closet door.
In an interview with Dunia, Grogan-Robinson said McClelland was at the front door when she fired the last shot. She also told him she was in the bedroom when she shot McClelland, but due to the home’s layout, Dunia said the only possible way to take the final shot was to come out of the bedroom.
Dunia said he believed she was pursuing McClelland. “I believe he was trying to exit the residence.”
Grogan-Robinson also told Dunia she wasn’t sure where the bullets hit McClelland because his arms were up.
Kreutzer said he found the handgun — a Sturm, Ruger & Co. five-round 9 millimeter — in the nightstand.
He said Dr. Bennet Omalu, who conducted the autopsy, identified McClelland’s injuries as being consistent with defensive wounds.
Kreutzer said the bullets entered the left and right sides of McClelland’s torso, specifically, hitting his forearms, biceps and sides.
In his final report, Omalu ruled the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the trunk, Kreutzer said.
Watson argued at the end of the hearing that Grogan-Robinson had planned to shoot McClelland. “She carried out those acts even though the person she was texting with tried to talk her down.”
He said she shot McClelland first while in the bedroom and then pursued him through the house before hitting him with the final shot.
Judge Markham found sufficient evidence that Grogan-Robinson was responsible for the killing and ordered her to stand trial.
She will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Nov. 30 in his Department 2 courtroom.
At that time, Markham also scheduled a bail review for Grogan-Robinson. As a result of a hearing in late September, Markham had ordered she be held without bail because he considered her a flight risk and a danger to the community.
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