Who killed Robert Riness? 15 months later, cab driver's death still unsolved
'It's like nothing is getting done': Who killed Cocoa cab driver?
Robert Riness’s mother opened the door to police and the awful news: her son was dead. "We were sound asleep, and somebody’s knocking on the door about 1:30 in the morning," said mom Patricia Maybee, "Tthey said it’s the police and they wanted to speak with me… he said 'I think you need to sit down.' That’s when he told me." Riness, a cab driver, was there to pick up a customer. Police say nothing was stolen. Riness was shot and killed; the killer took off.
COCOA, Fla. - Who killed Robert Riness?
It's been 15 months since Riness, a cab driver in Cocoa, was killed – and it's a day that his mother and sister will never forget.
"We were sound asleep, and somebody’s knocking on the door about 1:30 in the morning," said Patricia Maybee, Robert's mom. "They said ‘it’s the police,’ and they wanted to speak with me. He said ‘I think you need to sit down,’ That’s when he told me."
Riness was killed on Dec. 7, 2021.
The shooting happened around 11 p.m. near Kensington Drive and Donna Avenue in Cocoa. Police said Riness was in the area to pick up a customer, but something happened and Riness was shot and killed.
Police said the killer took off. Nothing was stolen from Riness.
"It’s just total shock, I was like in shock all day, and then I was so angry. I just shook and my husband was like calm down," said Tracy Baldwin, Robert's sister.
More than a year later, their still heartbroken and angry.
A spokesperson for Cocoa Police told FOX 35 that the case remains under investigation and that they're waiting on results from the lab. No one has been detained or arrested in the case.
"They have all this DNA evidence, we’ve been waiting, it’s been 15 months now, it's like nothing is getting done," said Maybee.
Police said they're also looking into whether the shooting is connected to a robbery of a pizza delivery driver that reportedly happened days before on the same block.
Until then, his family remembers the laugher and joy that Riness brought them every day.
"My brother was a big goofball, very loud, talked very, very loud, had this laugh that was just very contagious," said Baldwin.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cocoa Police or Crimeline.