Gaithersburg man faces murder charge for allegedly stabbing girlfriend

Sister called police for welfare check twice before 37-year-old was found dead

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June 29, 2026 11:30 a.m.

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Montgomery County police charged Sean Robinson, 39, of Gaithersburg with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Ashlei Jones, according to a Friday statement from police.  

Robinson was arrested Thursday after Jones was found and pronounced dead inside her Gaithersburg apartment on June 21. Robinson is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville, according to online court records. No attorney was listed for Robinson as of Monday morning.  

According to charging documents, officers were dispatched to 8519 Snouffer School Road for a welfare call at roughly 8 p.m. June 20, after Jones’s sister called because she had not heard from her sister in 24 hours. Officers found the front door locked and secure, and after receiving no response, officers left. 

Jones’s sister called again roughly three hours later after becoming even more concerned and stated that Robinson, Jones’s boyfriend, was schizophrenic and possibly not taking his medication. Officers obtained a key from maintenance, opened the apartment door, did not receive a response and  left again, according to charging documents.  

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On June 21, officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews responded to the residence for the report of a working code. A working code is an Emergency Medical Services term used to describe a situation in which a patient may be in cardiac arrest or unresponsive and resuscitation efforts are needed. 

According to the charging documents, they were met by Robinson, who allegedly had blood on his hands. According to the charging documents, he refused to perform CPR when the dispatcher gave instructions.  

Officers found Jones unresponsive, lying on the floor of a bedroom with “what appeared to be a remarkable cutting injury” to her neck and throat area. Jones was pronounced dead after life-saving attempts were unsuccessful, according to charging documents. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore reported that Jones was killed either the night of June 19 or the early morning hours of June 20. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was multiple “sharp-force injuries.” 

According to charging documents, when police informed Jones’ sister of her death she said she believed Robinson had killed Jones, and that he had a “lengthy history of controlling behavior” over Jones. Her sister also said Jones has had unexplained injuries in the past year and said again that Robinson had schizophrenia and may not have been taking his medication, according to the documents.  

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According to charging documents, Jones’s sister said she spoke with Jones via FaceTime on June 19 and the call ended at roughly 5:30 p.m. This was the last time Jones was seen alive, according to the documents.  

After speaking with her sister, officers interviewed Robinson, who allegedly was “immediately confrontational” and refused to answer several of the officers’ questions. Robinson allegedly told police that he left the apartment June 19 and did not come back until June 21, when he found Jones. According to the documents, Robinson said the couple “beat each other up all the time” and that no one had a key to the apartment except the pair and the apartment building’s front desk.  

Robinson was dropped off at his parent’s house following the interview, according to the documents, and roughly one hour later officers were dispatched for an attempted suicide. According to documents, his mother called and said he was “distressed about locating his girlfriend ‘murdered.’ ” According to the documents, his mother confirmed that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.  

Other witnesses reported seeing Robinson at the apartment on June 20, according to the documents, or hearing noise from the apartment on June 20. According to the documents, Ring camera footage allegedly shows that no one other than Robinson had access to the home during the homicide. According to the documents, two knives from a butcher’s block in the apartment are missing.  

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine