A Louisiana State Police trooper had no idea when he stopped a speeding car in Franklin Parish on Wednesday, July 29th, that a simple traffic stop would lead him to a murder. Neither did he know the victim’s body was in the trunk of the car he stopped.
Around 5 p.m. on the day of his arrest, Micheal DeWayne Mitchell, Jr., 18, was stopped by a state trooper on Highway 17 in Franklin Parish.
During the stop, the police report says the trooper noticed the smell of marijuana which Mitchell acknowledged smoking.
Having probable cause, state police searched Mitchell’s vehicle and found a man’s body in the trunk. The victim was identified as Michael Robinson Jr., 23, of Monroe.
Police say Mitchell confessed to robbing Robinson in Richwood, a robbery that resulted in Robinson’s death.
Mitchell said he was not alone. He named another man, Cameron Powe, 19, who also participated in the robbery.
Mitchell told troopers that Powe shot the victim during the robbery. It was Mitchell’s job to take Robinson’s body to Winnsboro and leave the victim and the vehicle at a site somewhere in the Winnsboro area.
Mitchell’s speeding violation prompted the police to stop him before he completed the plan.
Police located Powe, and each was booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center on a charge of second-degree murder.
