was said to be angry that his mother had tried to keep him off the streets and away from a gang. Smith’s uncle LeShaun Roberts, told Fox Detroit News the teen had wanted to ‘hang with the big boys’ – gang members in their twenties – but when his mother said no he ran away to relatives. But Robinson, a dialysis patient, who was battling lupus, went after her son and insisted he came home, angering the youngster.
According to the uncle, Joshua broke into his step dad’s room, got a twelve gauge and brutally murdered his mother while she slept on the couch in their home.
Joshua’s five-year-old sister and step dad, were in the home at the time and were forced to jump out of a low window to escape the gunfire.
Smith was arrested soon after the shooting. He had reportedly been driving around in his mother’s car.