{"id":233853,"date":"2026-04-16T06:02:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T06:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/233853\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T06:02:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T06:02:31","slug":"jacksonville-man-steven-dodson-jr-accused-of-shooting-2-year-old-amahri-robinson-pleads-not-guilty-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/233853\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville man Steven Dodson Jr. accused of shooting 2-year-old A\u2019mahri Robinson pleads not guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Steven Dodson Jr., the man accused of shooting and killing a 2-year-old boy in Jacksonville late last month, was in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, among other charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">He\u2019s accused of shooting two-year-old A\u2019mahri Robinson on March 22.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/cmg\/R6KIRWGGORDOFHTTLCY66G2XNM.jpg\" width=\"1440\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-1htor29-0 lnDeWE image-metadata\">A&#8217;mahri Robinson 2-year-old A&#8217;mahri Robinson was shot and killed Sunday (March 22, 2026) during a domestic dispute in Jacksonville&#8217;s Hillcrest neighborhood. (GoFundMe)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\">&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">The toddler\u2019s family claims Dodson shot A\u2019mahri on purpose. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ll accept a plea of not guilty at this time,\u201d Judge Jonathan Sacks said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">Dodson was led into Courtroom 608, shackled and wearing a green jumpsuit. There were five charges leveled against him: <\/p>\n<p>MurderAttempted murder in the second-degreePossession of a firearm by a convicted felonTampering with evidenceChild abuse<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/news\/local\/accused-killer-2-year-old-denied-bond-family-speaks-out\/EN5M5EXP35DPHO3KWE34TWS4CU\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/news\/local\/accused-killer-2-year-old-denied-bond-family-speaks-out\/EN5M5EXP35DPHO3KWE34TWS4CU\/\">Accused killer of 2-year-old denied bond as family speaks out<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">Speaking of children, he cannot have contact with two via a court order \u2013 the unnamed children\u2019s relationship to him is unclear. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">But that contact would be highly unlikely anyway since he has no bond on the most serious charges he faces. Likewise, the judge emphasized there should be no contact with others related to the case, even through a third party. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no contact with witnesses and also includes the victims or witnesses. LJ and LM,\u201d Sacks said to Dodson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">[DOWNLOAD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">Action News Jax told you when police arrested 21-year-old Dodson on March 23 for allegedly killing A\u2019mahri <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/news\/local\/jacksonville-police-capture-man-accused-shooting-2-year-old-boy-death\/3WMKKRADTBDCJEA4COUMFV2I74\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/news\/local\/jacksonville-police-capture-man-accused-shooting-2-year-old-boy-death\/3WMKKRADTBDCJEA4COUMFV2I74\/\">following a manhunt<\/a> led by the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office and U.S. Marshals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">A police report said the toddler\u2019s mother was holding him when he was shot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">The report also revealed that Dodson was the child\u2019s stepfather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">[SIGN UP: <a href=\"https:\/\/membercenter.actionnewsjax.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">A\u2019mahri\u2019s family maintains that his stepdad, Dodson, purposefully shot him. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">The court is aiming for a speedy trial beginning October 5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\">Dodson is due back in court on May 14 for a pre-trial hearing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 dbPNdY body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/video\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Steven Dodson Jr., the man accused of shooting and killing a 2-year-old boy in Jacksonville&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93812,93811,104433,969,104430,116,118,117,1872,634,93810,104431,104432,66805],"class_list":{"0":"post-233853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-amari_robinson","9":"tag-dotson","10":"tag-duval_county_court","11":"tag-jack","12":"tag-jack_zion_deoto","13":"tag-jacksonville","14":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","15":"tag-jacksonville-news","16":"tag-jso","17":"tag-local","18":"tag-stephen_dodson_jr","19":"tag-stephen_dotson_jr","20":"tag-us_marshals","21":"tag-zion_dekoto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}