A Kalamazoo County Circuit Court jury has convicted Shawn Darnell Robinson Hopkins, 39, of Kalamazoo, of two counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for assaulting a minor in 2005, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The victim, 14 years-old at the time, reported the assault by the then-unknown man immediately in 2005. Robinson Hopkins was not identified until 2022, 17 years after the assault, via DNA evidence.
“I am grateful for the efforts of the Kalamazoo SAKI unit to secure this conviction, 19 years following this terrible assault,” said Nessel. “It can be extremely difficult to bring about justice in cold-case sexual assault trials, but the talented prosecutors of our state’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative continue to bring these cases before juries, secure convictions, and make our communities safer. I applaud the remarkable bravery of our victim, who, as a child 19 years ago, had the courage to speak out and seek accountability for her abuser. Her strength is a reminder that justice is worth pursuing, no matter how long it takes.”
“I continue to be impressed time and again by the work that the Kalamazoo County SAKI team does on behalf of sexual assault survivors,” said Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey S. Getting. “These are complicated, difficult, important cases that not only bring justice for survivors, but are also making our community safer.”
Robinson Hopkins will be sentenced before Judge Kenneth Barnard in the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo County on February 5, 2025. This case was prosecuted by the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), and this is their 22nd cold-case sexual assault conviction.
The state’s SAKI was established in 2016 to investigate and prosecute sexual assaults related to previously untested sexual assault evidence kits. The SAKI project provides sexual assault victims with the opportunity to have their cases re-investigated in a comprehensive, trauma-informed manner.
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