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Ex-Con Fatally Shoots Longtime Girlfriend and Her Son, Police Say

By  Trevor Kapp Aidan Gardiner and Eddie Small | October 3, 2016 8:55am | Updated on October 3, 2016 10:49am

 Sharon Epps and her son Tyrell Bell were found fatally shot on Sunday, police said.
Sharon Epps and her son Tyrell Bell were found fatally shot on Sunday, police said.
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THE BRONX — An ex-con was arrested Sunday for fatally shooting his longtime girlfriend and her son, an aspiring train operator, police and friends said.

Antonio Robinson, 49, who spent two years behind bars for robbery in the 1980s, shot both his girlfriend, Sharon Epps, 50, and her son Tyrell Bell, 27, whom he'd frequently threatened to kill, according to an NYPD spokesman and friends.

Their bodies were discovered when the FDNY was called about a gas leak at their Claremont home at 1763 Fulton Ave., near the Cross Bronx Expressway, 7:25 p.m. Saturday, the spokeswoman said.

The mother and son were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Robinson, who had lived with Epps for more than 25 years and helped raise Bell, was arrested and charged with murder, officials said. He had not been arraigned as of Monday morning, records show.

Police had twice visited Robinson for domestic incidents in 2011 and 2013, officials said. They did not provide further details about the incidents.

"He was good sometimes. He'd say positive stuff like, 'Stay in school,' but he'd always pick on [Bell], talking stupid stuff like, 'I'll take you out.' They had problems, but I didn't think it'd ever get to this," according to Mark Lyons, who said he was Bell's best friend .

Robinson lost his job with the MTA because he was a heavy drinker, Lyons said.

"He was a terror to the women. He would comment on looks, everything. He would make sexual comments. Alcohol put him in a bad place," said neighbor Linda Perez, 35.

Also, Robinson's been arrested eight times before, first in 1983 for criminal sale of a controlled substance, police said.

He was arrested in 1985 for grand larceny, and twice in 1987 for criminal mischief and for robbery, police said.

He did two years behind bars for that robbery and wasn't arrested again after his 1989 release until 1996 when he was busted for petit larceny, officials said. 

He was arrested in 2009 for violating a local law, in 2011 for forgery and in 2014 for aggravated harassment, police said.

Those who knew the victims were heartbroken by their sudden murder, they said.

Bell had recently begun doing maintenance work for the MTA and had been training in Coney Island to become a train operator, according to Lyons, who took the operator test with him.

"That was my best, my brother my heart. He was a king. He loved everybody," said Lyons, 28.

Lyons saw his friend Friday night, dressed in his high-visibility reflective jacket.

"He was ecstatic. He was ready to live his life and help himself and his mom," Lyons said.

Epps, who worked as a nurse in Harlem, was equally beloved, friends said.

"She was a very good woman. That was my second mother. She always had a great sense of humor. She cared about her son's friends like they were her own. She was always 100, always real," Lyons said

By Monday morning, mourners had arranged more than 100 colorful candles outside the family's home.

"I don't know what to do. My head hurts. Usually you see it on the news, but it ain't you. This is unbelievable," Lyons said.

Robinson was arraigned on murder and manslaughter charges and ordered held without bail, and he is due back in court on Oct. 7, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.

Memorial

(DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp)