Arlena Roby

Gary Man Convicted in Hammer Murder

June 18, 2010

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - Jurors have convicted a Gary man of bludgeoning his mother to death with a hammer. Lake County deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary says 34-year-old Rasson Roby struck his 59-year-old mother, Arlena Roby, a minimum of 18 to 24 times with a hammer. A Lake Criminal Court jury found Roby guilty Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter in his mother's February 2007 death.

He was initially charged with murder, but the judge gave jurors the option of convicting him of the lesser charge. Judge Diane Boswell banned Roby from his trial because he had been disruptive earlier, and he did not take the stand. Roby has a history of mental illness and told police he attacked his mother with a hammer in her Gary home because she "got into his personal space."

UPDATE:

A Gary man was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for beating his 59-year-old mother to death with a hammer in 2007. the Northwest Times of Indiana reports.

A Lake Criminal Court jury found Rasson Roby, 34, guilty last month of voluntary manslaughter for Arlena Roby's death. Roby originally was charged with the more severe crime of murder, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser charge.

Arlena Roby was found dead in her Gary on Feb. 1, 2007, police said.  Deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary told the jury during the trial that Rasson Roby struck his mother a minimum of 18 to 24 times with a hammer.