Oct. 7—The mother of an Otsego County teen sentenced this week to 20 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of his father spoke to The Daily Star this week about the circumstances that led to the tragic killing.

Dylan Robinson's mother, Jamie Osborne, and sister, Desiree "Dez" Robinson, alleged that Kenneth Robinson abused Dylan and themselves before the night he was shot dead by Dylan and his accomplices during an apparent robbery attempt.

Osborne and Dez said they have been struggling as to whether to say anything about Kenneth or not. Osborne said she wanted to talk because what she called descriptions of Kenneth being a "superhero" father were, "so far from the truth. He abused Dylan his entire life."

Osborne said Kenneth was abusive to her, and she left after an altercation where she said Kenneth was beating her up and when Dylan tried to intervene, Kenneth picked up Dylan by the neck and pushed him against a wall.

Dez, who has come out as transgender and wants to be addressed as they/them, said "I was so terrified to come out as transgender and queer, even after he died. He said vocally in front of me that he fantasized about killing minorities. He directed most of the physical abuse to Dylan and the emotional abuse to me."

Dez said they were scared of Kenneth, and that he killed a pet hamster and would take their dogs into the woods and shoot them, and would come back, "and tell me they ran away because I didn't love them enough."

Dez said they have been in therapy and suffered from eating disorders including bulimia and anorexia as a result of the abuse.

Osborne said she had custody of Dylan and was fighting for custody Dez and their younger brother. When she got custody of Dez in August 2019, Kenneth said he wanted Dylan back, but Dylan didn't want to go, she said.

Osborne said Kenneth smoked marijuana with Dylan and his friends and grew it on state land adjacent to his property. She said she wasn't going to speculate about what happened the night Kenneth was killed and said she hasn't asked Dylan about that night because they are only able to talk once a week. Dylan Robinson's defense attorney claimed that the shooting happened spontaneously during an attempt to steal Kenneth's marijuana, a claim rejected by the prosecution.

"I only know the police side of it," Osborne said.

At Dylan Robinson's sentencing Monday, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl noted that Dylan and his accomplices meticulously planned the crime, and rejected the notion that it was merely a burglary gone wrong.

"This was not the case. The burglary was planned with other people. They wore dark clothing and masks and had lookouts," Muehl said. "This was not an impulse crime, and that is why he was treated as an adult and should receive the maximum sentence."

Dylan, was convicted by a jury June 23 of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted robbery in connection with the incident, which happened in October 2019.

She said that since Dylan has been incarcerated, he has started reading more and earned his high school diploma.

"Since he's been there, he has changed his mindset from friends to schooling," Osborne said. "I got to go see him graduate, which was awesome."

She said the structure at the detention center has been beneficial to Dylan and she hopes he takes college courses and earns a degree. She said they are appealing the case and the sentence because of Dylan's age at the time and the trauma he suffered.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.