Man gets 23 years for slashing wife

Donovan D. Brown, of St. Paul, MN, was sentenced to 23 years Wednesday, April 29, for slashing his estranged and soon to be ex-wife and baby’s mama, Shanda S. Robinson, in the face and on her cheeks last summer. Only the brave actions of the victim’s mother prevented her daughter from being killed.

Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan sentenced Brown for 20 years, the maximum sentence, for attempted murder. Judge Marrinan also sentenced Brown for 4 counts of terroristic threats against Robinson and the couple’s three kids, and additional counts of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree assault.

"We are here on attempted murder [rather than murder] only because your wife's mother had the presence of mind to batter down that door, get to her daughter and apply pressure to those wounds," the judge said.

Prosecutor Janice Barker summed up the case during her closing argument: A court order prohibited Brown from living at Robinson's apartment in the 300 block of Birmingham Avenue on St. Paul's East Side after he was charged with whipping her middle child with a belt.

He grew tired and frustrated with living out of his car and returned to the apartment Aug. 2 "to claim what he believed he was entitled to," Barker told the jury. Robinson awoke from a nap when she heard Brown rifling through her kitchen drawers. That's apparently where he grabbed a large box cutter. She tried to avoid an argument by leaving to run an errand, but Brown was still there when she got back. Again, she tried to ignore him.

Robinson didn't know he had a box cutter until he raised his hand and brought it down on her cheek. He continued slashing and, "She thought she was going to die in front of her children," Barker said.

Brown fled, crashing through a window. He called 911 and told a dispatcher that Robinson had tried to cut him and "I had to defend myself."

Robinson cried in her mother’s arms as Barker read her victim impact statement. The statement said in part, "[The attack] has changed my life forever ... I have to worry what people will think when they look at my scars. The kids will always know who did this to me."

Brown attempted to explain his actions that August night before sentencing. "At the time, it was like she was taking everything from me. I'm not blaming her in the least. I wish I could take back my actions. I'm just sorry for what I did… My wife IS a wonderful woman. My kids are wonderful."

After the sentencing, Barker said about the victim, "She is an amazing woman. She has developed into a wonderful mother. She works to support her children and did everything to keep them safe.”