Former Evangel football player gets 3 years in prison

Update 12/19/24 — Robinson was sentenced to three years in prison for second-degree involuntary manslaughter charges and 180 days of jail for making a false report.

The sentences will be concurrent.

Original Story 9/17/24

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Former Evangel football player Terry Robinson was found guilty today of involuntary manslaughter.

In 2020, Robinson accidentally shot and killed his friend Tyree Crenshaw, a member of Evangel's track team at a home on North Jefferson Avenue.

"We've got to be more conscientious about what we're doing with firearms," said Prosper Springfield Director Francine Pratt.

On April 30, 2020. life changed forever for the Crenshaw family.

Police say Robinson was messing around with a gun when it went off and killed Crenshaw.

Robinson initially told police there had been a drive-by before admitting he accidentally shot his friend.

"Even if you know it's empty and you start pointing it at people and pulling the trigger," owner of Cherokee Firearms Nick Newman said. "That's that's just horseplay and it's not appropriate."

Pratt has been working to end gun violence in Springfield through the gun safety and gun violence reduction collaborative.

"We have a methodical approach that's going to focus on education and training on that public safety side, the gun safety side," Pratt said.

Newman says if anyone is unsure of how to use a gun properly, they can bring it to his shop or any gun shop and someone will help them get more comfortable with it.

"Rule number one is assume it's loaded and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction," Newman said. "As long as that muzzles pointed in a safe direction, even if something else goes wrong, until you can make sure that it's empty and verified that it's cleared, then nobody's going to get hurt."

Pratt says one of the findings from their studies so far is that young people need more positive, safe activities to stay out of trouble.

"We want to save more lives," Pratt said. "We want to educate more people about gun safety and what we're doing to reduce the gun violence. And one of the clear things we're finding out from youth and young people, they're bored."