Mobile man accused of killing girlfriend: ‘If I could take all this back, I wish I would’
By Brendan Kirby
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A man accused of shooting his girlfriend to death expressed remorse Tuesday as police were preparing to take him to Mobile County Metro Jail.
“If I could take all this back, I wish I would,” Milton Lamar Farris said outside of Mobile police headquarters.
Farris, 37, of Mobile, faces charges of murder, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, menacing, first-degree kidnapping and shooting into an occupied dwelling. He is scheduled to have a bond hearing Wednesday.
“The cameras are in my face, and I’m on TV,” he said. “I’m sorry. Sorry to the family. I’m sorry to my children. This is something that should never happened. And I promise everyone I didn’t mean to happen. I know I’m hurting on the inside daily for this.”
Police said they apprehended Farris in the 2000 block of Bragdon Avenue with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Task Force just before noon.
Cpl. Katrina Frazier, a police spokeswoman, said Farris stopped by his employer to ask for his paycheck early. She said the employer was aware that authorities were looking for him and alerted police.
“This was a tragic incident that occurred last night,” she said. “We have four children who are now without a mother. Domestic violence is serious.”
The shooting occurred at about 8:20 p.m. on Wagner Street. Police found 30-year-old Malinda Robinson dead outside and believed the gunman might still be inside. Instead, she said, they found Robinson’s four children, ages 2 to 12.
Frazier said investigators are still trying to piece together the events leading up to the shooting and what the motive was.
“All we know at this time is there was a domestic dispute between the two, and Farris chose to resolve that dispute in the most heinous way ever,” she said. “We always talk about conflict resolution, being able to talk your problems out. These kids will go on and live their life without their mother.”
The news devastated Curtis Harris, a friend of Robinson since 2017. He said he saw news of the standoff on Facebook but did not realize it was his friend until Tuesday.
“I can’t believe she’s gone just that fast,” he said. ‘Cause she was a good person to me. … It says touches my heart so bad.”
Harris said he did not know anything about Robinson’s relationship. But he said he is angry at whoever is responsible.
“That was wrong the way he did to her, though,” he said. “It was so wrong. … That is so crazy. Why do you do that to her? She was a great person.”
It’s unclear how long Farris and Robinson were together, but he listed her as his emergency contact when police arrested him on gun and drug charges in 2019. Frazier said Farris is the father of the youngest child.
The defendant’s criminal record includes several convictions on misdemeanor offenses and multiple probation revocations. Farris said he had been drinking on Monday but would not discuss what sparked the fight with Robinson.
“It wasn’t no intention of me trying to hurt her or do any harm to her,” he said. “I wish I could take it back, man.”
Frazier urged domestic violence victims to call the Penelope Crisis Hotline at 251-342-8994.
“Fear is something that we all have to overcome,” she said. “If you are fearful that this may happen to you if you make a phone call, imagine what will happen if you don’t make that phone call.”
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