Jeremy Robin is a Massachusetts man convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2017 Milford stabbing that killed 21-year-old Timothy Commerford and wounded 54-year-old Richard Garcia. A Worcester Superior Court jury found him guilty in October 2021, and he was sentenced to 10 to 14 years in state prison. In December 2025, Judge Valerie Yarashus granted Robin a new trial, ruling that his trial attorney had been ineffective for failing to pursue advanced DNA testing that would have supported his self-defense claim.1Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Manslaughter: New DNA Evidence, New Trial
What Happened Outside 19 Green Street
On the afternoon of May 7, 2017, Commerford and Garcia drove to 19 Green Street in Milford, the home Robin shared with his mother. Robin was 19 at the time. Prosecutors later described the encounter as a “drug deal gone bad,” with the two men arriving to buy pills.2Telegram & Gazette. Worcester Court: Family Remembers Timothy Commerford They got out of the car and confronted Robin as he left the building, and a fight broke out.3NBC Boston. Multiple Stabbings in Milford, Mass.
Robin stabbed Commerford in the chest and Garcia in the back. Commerford was taken to Milford Hospital and pronounced dead. Garcia was rushed to UMass Memorial Medical Center in critical condition and survived.4CBS News Boston. 19-Year-Old Jeremy Robin Arraigned in Fatal Milford Stabbing Robin was arrested at the scene and directed officers to a knife he had discarded in nearby woods.5WCVB. Man Says Milford Fatal Stabbing Was Out of Self Defense
Self-Defense Versus Revenge
Robin told police that Commerford and Garcia came at him with a knife, that he disarmed Commerford, and that he used the weapon against both men. He said Garcia struck his mother in the face after she and his girlfriend, Alexandra Miranda, came outside to intervene. Police confirmed his mother was treated for minor facial injuries.5WCVB. Man Says Milford Fatal Stabbing Was Out of Self Defense Robin also told investigators that Commerford had accused him of a robbery a year earlier, which he suggested was a motive for the two men to come after him.
Miranda, who watched the fight from a window, told reporters, “I looked out the window and all I could see is someone wailing on him,” and said the two men had pulled a knife on her and Robin’s mother.3NBC Boston. Multiple Stabbings in Milford, Mass. Robin’s early defense attorney, Brian Murphy, called it “as pure a case of self defense as there ever has been.”5WCVB. Man Says Milford Fatal Stabbing Was Out of Self Defense
Prosecutors told a different story. Assistant District Attorney Joseph Simmons argued at trial that Robin acted out of “retaliation and revenge.”2Telegram & Gazette. Worcester Court: Family Remembers Timothy Commerford The prosecution contended Robin had spotted the knife in the visitors’ vehicle, retrieved it, and used it on them, and that nothing had stopped him, Miranda, and his mother from simply going back inside to end the confrontation.6Telegram & Gazette. Prosecutor Calls Milford Killing a Case of Revenge
Conviction and Sentence
The case went to trial in Worcester Superior Court in October 2021. Robin was represented at trial by attorney Jaclyn Greenhalgh, who told jurors the situation was “chaotic, crazy and happened in an instant” and that Robin had defended himself, his girlfriend, and his mother.6Telegram & Gazette. Prosecutor Calls Milford Killing a Case of Revenge
On October 26, 2021, the jury convicted Robin of voluntary manslaughter and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Commerford’s death, and of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the stabbing of Garcia.7Worcester County DA. Robin Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Milford Stabbing Judge Yarashus revoked his bail immediately.8MassLive. Jeremy Robin Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter
In March 2022, Yarashus sentenced Robin to concurrent terms: 10 to 14 years in state prison on the manslaughter count, up to 7 years on the aggravated assault count, and up to 3 years on the remaining assault count. He was credited with 291 days already served.2Telegram & Gazette. Worcester Court: Family Remembers Timothy Commerford
Why a New Trial Was Granted
On December 16, 2025, Judge Yarashus granted Robin’s motion for a new trial, finding both ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence.1Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Manslaughter: New DNA Evidence, New Trial
The ruling turned on DNA. Greenhalgh had not consulted a DNA expert before or during the 2021 trial. Yarashus found that if she had, she would have learned about “below-threshold DNA” testing, which uses probabilistic genotyping software to analyze samples too small for traditional analysis. Massachusetts courts first admitted this type of evidence in 2016, the year before the stabbing. At a 2025 evidentiary hearing, the judge credited Greenhalgh’s testimony that she had been unaware of the technology, rather than having strategically chosen not to use it.
When the advanced testing was eventually run, it provided statistical support that Commerford’s DNA was on the handles of the knives recovered from the scene. Yarashus wrote that the finding does not prove Robin’s innocence but “substantially helps defense theories that were put forward at trial” about self-defense and who brought the weapons. The self-defense account had always rested in part on Robin’s claim that he disarmed Commerford, and DNA from Commerford on the knife handles tends to corroborate that.
Greenhalgh is now a District Court judge. The ruling has not prompted any public sanction against her beyond the ineffective-assistance finding in Robin’s case.
Where the Case Stands
As of early 2026, Robin remains in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, still serving the 10- to 14-year sentence. No retrial date, bail decision, or plea discussions have been publicly reported, and the Worcester County District Attorney’s office has not issued a public statement about the retrial order.