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WILKES-BARRE — A Plymouth man admitted Monday he killed Trevor Oliver and shot a woman during a planned drug robbery inside a house on Hutson Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Robert Rodriguez, 24, was charged with fatally shooting Oliver, 41, and injuring Vanessa Batista, 40, inside 77 Hutson St. on Feb. 7, 2018.

City police and Luzerne County detectives alleged Rodriguez recruited Isaiah Tyrone Jennings, 20, of Wilkes-Barre, to rob Oliver of drugs and cash.

Court papers say Rodriguez entered the house followed by Jennings. Rodriguez first shot Batista when she opened the front door, and then shot Oliver who died from multiple gunshot wounds. Batista survived the shooting.

During the gunfire, Rodriguez told Jennings to shoot Oliver but instead, Jennings shot Rodriguez in the leg, court records say.

Assistant district attorneys Gregory S. Skibitsky Jr. and Gene Molino told Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. that Rodriguez agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder and criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Jennings’ trial is scheduled for April 29 on charges of criminal homicide, criminal attempt to commit homicide and criminal conspiracy.

In an unrelated case, Rodriguez also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for shooting Lamont Garcia in the abdomen outside a barbershop on Parrish Street, Wilkes-Barre, on Feb. 2, 2018.

Rodriguez blamed Garcia for giving him a bad tattoo on his wrist, city police alleged. Rodriguez believed the tattoo was botched and infected.

The plea agreements in the separate cases were reached with Rodriguez’s attorney, William Watt III, last Thursday.

Sklarosky accepted the plea agreements and said Rodriguez will be sentenced June 3. Rodriguez faces a maximum of 70 years in state prison.

Rodriguez
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By Ed Lewis

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