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She was the first woman found under a Dallas bridge, stabbed to death in a case shrouded in mystery for months.
Later she became the first of three victims, targeted by a man accused of killing women linked to prostitution.
Now, her daughter wants you to know Kimberly Robinson was so much more.
“She’s more than just the story that she’s linked to,” Janetria Oliver told The Dallas Morning News. “I need people to know that’s not all [there] was to her.”
Robinson’s death was thrust into the spotlight this week after police connected her to a man arrested Wednesday. Police allege Oscar Sanchez-Garcia, 25, killed the three women over about three months in east and north Oak Cliff.
Two months after Robinson’s death, 25-year-old Cherish Gibson was found partially nude in the grass about 200 yards from where Robinson was found in the 200 block of Santa Fe Avenue.
Weeks later, De’brenese Janey Henry, 31, was found near the Trinity River in the 800 block of Brazos Street. She was also stabbed to death, police said.
For Oliver, Sanchez-Garcia’s arrest brought relief, but also fresh reminders of who she — and people across Dallas — lost.
“I’m grateful that they finally got an arrest,” she said. “I’m sad that two more people had to lose their lives in order for them to do that, but I’m just grateful it’s over for everybody’s sake.”
‘A big kid at heart’
Kimberly Robinson was Dallas born and raised, which showed in where she placed her loyalties. She was a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan whose allegiance to the team dominated her Facebook account with posts like “Cowboys nation!!!!” and “Tom Brady who?”
She was the youngest after her five siblings, Oliver said.
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Growing up, she had a gift for the arts, and especially liked to draw and do ballet. She attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in downtown Dallas, Oliver said, then continued to show her artistic background later in life.
She often drew cartoon characters as gifts to others, Oliver said. Mickey Mouse was her specialty.
She lost one of her brothers to gun violence in Dallas decades ago. She was close to him, so his death hit her hard, Oliver said.
That hardship may have spurred her devotion to family. She raised her entire family in Dallas and was especially close with her grandchildren, Oliver said, adding they played games online together like Family Feud and Candy Crush.
“She kind of was a big kid at heart,” Oliver said. “She related to her grandkids a lot.”
One time, Oliver recalled, Robinson taught her grandchildren to make homemade plain, glazed donuts. She’s not much of a baker, Oliver said with a laugh, but true to her spirit, Robinson lived in the moment.
“It blew their minds,” Oliver said. “That was a sweet moment that we still talk about to this day.”
As Robinson’s only daughter, Oliver said they had a distinct relationship. In some ways, their roles were reversed — Robinson called Oliver the mom in the family.
Oliver, 39, aspired for years to join the U.S. Air Force, and about a year ago, she finally made it happen. Now stationed in South Carolina, she said her mother was “super proud” and supportive of the move.
Their relationship was illustrated in a recent Facebook post Robinson wrote wishing her daughter a happy birthday. “To my hero, I miss you so much,” she said. “Happy Birthday baby I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become, the mother and person in spite of me.”
In the family, Robinson was known as a free spirit.
That spirit led to some of her struggles, Oliver said.
‘She has a real family’
Robinson had pleaded guilty in the past to various prostitution and theft charges, according to Dallas County court records.
For about three years, Robinson appeared to be doing well after overcoming hardship, Oliver said. Then she ended up living with friends she used to go out with, and while she’s unsure what exactly her mother did, Oliver said she “might have been struggling a little bit.”
Still, seeing stories that described her mother only as being linked to prostitution was “a gut punch,” Oliver said.
“She has a real family who really — you know, we were really mourning and we really miss her,” she said. “I don’t care what type of lifestyle her or any of the other two ladies had — nobody has the right to take a life, nobody has the right to decide when you take your last breath.”
On a GoFundMe account created to raise funds for Robinson’s memorial service, the family wrote her death had left “a hole in our hearts.”
“I want her to be remembered as something other than that story,” Oliver said.