Man accused of killing Coast police dog now faces murder charge

A man accused of killing a Pascagoula police K9 officer during a pursuit in Jackson now also faces murder charges after a shooting victim died from his wounds in a Mobile hospital, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said in a press release.

Mitchell Wayne Robinson, 33, is charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. He’s accused of shooting 52-year-old Christopher Joiner in the Helena community before shooting police dog Exo as he was fleeing sheriff’s deputies.

The K9 later died at an emergency vet clinic.

Joiner died at University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile on June 24. That’s when the aggravated assault charge Robinson faced got upgraded to a murder charge.

Robinson was shot by officers during the pursuit, according to an earlier release from Ezell, but is now behind held without bond in the Jackson County jail.