Man sentenced to life in prison for murder in Chester County
CHESTER COUNTY, Tenn. — A Henderson County man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first degree murder.
According to a press release from the office of District Attorney General Jody Pickens (26th Judicial District), Todd Allen Robbins, of Henderson County, was convicted by a Chester County jury for the murder of Benny Wayne Maness in December 2020.
The release states on December 20, 2020, Chester County authorities responded to Nolen Road near Enville, where a man later identified as Maness was discovered, and investigators determined that he had been shot and ran over by a vehicle.
According to the release, investigative findings and testimony at a March 2023 trial in Chester County revealed that Robbins, who was an acquaintance of the victim, shot Maness in the head with a handgun, pulled him out of the cab of his pickup truck, shot him again, and then ran over him as he drove away from the scene.
The release says further evidence revealed in the month prior to the murder, Robbins was being pursued by the United States Marshals Service for an unrelated warrant.
Additionally, the release says investigators also developed evidence that the night before Maness was murdered, Robbins shot another individual in the face.
According to the release, its believed that Robbin’s motive in murdering Maness was to take his truck in order to flee to Alabama.
After a two-day trial and 13 minutes of deliberation, the jury convicted Robbins of first degree murder, murder in the perpetration of theft, and theft over $2,500. The same jury voted unanimously that he should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Following his conviction, the release states Robbins pled guilty to possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.
The release states Robbins has five prior felony convictions, as well as several misdemeanor convictions.
“The citizens of Henderson and Chester County will not have to contend with the criminality of this Defendant because with the jury’s verdict he has been removed from our community. This Defendant killed Benny Wayne Maness in a cold blooded, heinous fashion all in attempt to evade justice. As the verdict reflects, justice was finally served. Robbins will never breath air as a free man again,” said District Attorney General Jody S. Pickens. “Because of the cooperation and efforts of the Chester County Sheriff’s Department, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Savannah Police Department, and the United States Marshal Service, West Tennessee is safer place to live.”
The release says Seth Preslar, who was then with the Chester County Sheriff’s Department, along with Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Parson of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, had primary responsibility for the investigation of the case. The people of the State of Tennessee were represented at trial by District Attorney General Jody Pickens and Assistant District Attorney General Al Earls.
For more local crime stories, click here.
