CP Shuckers Cafe and Raw Bar is seen on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, Va. (Stephen Katz via TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — A nurse for children and older people was sentenced to seven years in prison in Virginia Beach Circuit Court Monday morning for his role in the death of a Navy chief petty officer, who for several years fought in the global war on terrorism.
Joshua Robinson was at the CP Shuckers Cafe & Raw Bar on Shore Drive on the Fourth of July in 2022 when he ran into a co-worker and her friend, Stephen Tyler Murphy, both visibly intoxicated, according to prosecutors.
Robinson testified at his trial in February that he agreed to take the two of them home shortly after 2 a.m., when Murphy began yelling at him and hitting him. He said he asked Murphy to get out of his car, and left him on the side of the road before his friend convinced him to turn back.
Robinson’s recollection of what happened next changed at times — from his interactions with doctors and interviews with detectives in the early hours of July 5, 2022, to his testimony in the courtroom.
He recalls Murphy attempting to punch him through an open window before Robinson struck him with the front driver side bumper of his car, causing extensive head injuries and a leg fracture that left bone exposed, according to prosecutors.
Cellphone records and location data showed that as Murphy began to exhibit symptoms of life-threatening injuries, Robinson drove past Sentara Leigh Hospital and called friends of his who worked as physicians before arriving at a hospital 40 minutes later. In that period, when police stopped him for expired plates, he didn’t tell them of Murphy’s condition.
To his mother Eileen Murphy, Murphy was “Ty Ty,” she told the courtroom.
“No one could make you laugh like he did,” she said. Over a thousand attended his memorial service and expressed to her how they were touched by his presence, mentorship and dedication to serving others.
To his friends, he was known as “Murph,” said Mike Provost. The two were roommates in Special Warfare Combat Crewman (SWCC) selection and training in 2005, and Murphy was best man at Provost’s wedding.
Provost said Murphy would keep care packages with toothbrushes, gift cards and snacks in the glove compartment of his blue Dodge SUV to hand out to people experiencing homelessness.
Over a decade in the Navy, Murphy deployed several times to the Middle East and Africa as a SWWC with Special Boat Team 20, earning him two Navy Marine commendation medals, among other awards for outstanding service. He later worked in an intelligence gathering capacity for the federal government, said his father Stephen Carl Murphy.
“We were so proud of all he achieved.”
Beginning every varsity lacrosse game at the Ohio State University, the announcer asks the audience to stand and face the Stephen Tyler Murphy flag pole and memorial plaque, erected after his death to honor his time volunteering as the team’s assistant coach.
The Human Performance Training Center in Virginia Beach’s Naval Special Warfare Group Four compound also bears his name and his personal motto, “1% better every day,” said Michael Spock, who told the court he mentored Murphy for decades and quickly became his chosen family.
Murphy’s family members testified that the decisions not to call 911, to pass the hospital and not to tell police about their loved one’s critical condition are what continues to weigh on them heavily today.
“This day started out with trying to get someone home,” Robinson said, turning to face Murphy’s family and friends in the courtroom. “I wish I was never there that night.”
“I failed him in the choices I made,” he said. “If I could give years of my life to him, I would.”
Robinson’s family and friends, filling the defense’s side of the courtroom, testified that the charismatic and easygoing person they once knew has changed. The guilt and grief he holds from that night four years ago continue to weigh on him, said his mother, Marla Robinson.
Joshua Robinson grew up dreaming of becoming a part of the Air Force Medical Corps, his mother said, but he was disqualified from joining because he has epilepsy. He began his career as a pediatric Intensive Care Unit nurse at Children’s Hospital for the King’s Daughters.
After a jury found him guilty in February of felony hit and run causing personal injury and acquitted him of felony murder, he lost his job at CHKD and became a mental health care provider for older people living independently.
In the early hours of July 5, 2022, Joshua Robinson stayed with Murphy as he was transferred from Sentara Leigh to Sentara Norfolk General for emergency treatment.
“I deeply regret it all and everyday will try to put good back into the world,” Robinson told the courtroom.
“This is a tough case,” said judge Salvatore Iaquinto. The circumstances, Iaquinto said, “don’t meet the guidelines by any means.” The guidelines recommended a range of one day to six months.
Robinson saw Murphy bleeding profusely, Iaquinto said, and heard him struggle to breathe, before waiting nearly an hour to take him to the hospital.
“A life was lost,” he said. “We’ll never know if he could’ve been saved.”
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