Suspect in Fayetteville woman's death 'a monster,' family says

Police have charged Terry Dale Robinson Jr., 44, of Fayetteville, with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in the death of Erica Cherie Gainey, 24, who was last seen June 28 leaving her home with Robinson.

Investigators are awaiting a positive identification of the remains, which were found in an SUV behind a community building near Saint Pauls in Robeson County.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Robinson stared blankly as he appeared before a district court judge, who appointed him a public defender and set his next court date for Aug. 30.

Gainey's parents, aunts, uncles and great-grandparents were also there.

"He has no remorse, no remorse whatsoever," Gainey's aunt, Cassondra Alston, said. "How could a human being feel that way? … It's sad. He needs justice."

Investigators haven't provided many details about the case, but a man who says he was friends with Robinson told WRAL News that Robinson approached him over the weekend and asked him to help dispose of the remains.

The man, who didn't want to be identified, said Robinson told him that he had initially buried the remains but got scared. The man didn't believe Robinson, he said, until Robinson opened the SUV and he saw dismembered remains in a duffel bag.

Gainey's family says the gruesome details are unfathomable.

"You don't even do animals like that," her father, Travis McEachern, said. "She's somebody's daughter, somebody's aunt, somebody's granddaughter. You don't do nobody like that. She doesn't deserve that."

Gainey's mother, Dawn Kime, says Robinson had been her daughter's landlord for several years.

Investigators have said that Robinson was spotted buying bleach and mothballs at a Family Dollar store in Harrells about seven hours after Gainey was last seen. He was driving her white Hyundai Elantra.

"I have hatred in my heart for this man, for what he did to my niece," Alston said. "She had a 6-year-old at home, waiting for her to come home. She can’t even view her mother’s body. What are we going to tell her? We have no answers."

Gainey would have been 25 next Friday. McEachern said they are still planning a cookout in her honor, as well as a memorial next Saturday.

"We’re going to still celebrate Erica every day as though she’s here," McEachern said. "Every morning, he's going to wake up knowing we’re still celebrating Erica."