Update: March 3, 2025
The boyfriend of Robin Renae Deaton, who faces multiple charges after allegedly locking him inside a unit, now tells reporters that the incident was a mistake and the charges are “bogus.” Gary Oxendine, who's name was previously not released, says that the events began the way pokice described, but that there was no malice.
“She did not lure me into the back of a unit for nothing. All this is just a bunch of bullcrap,” Oxendine said. “They need to get their stuff right. It’s just a bunch of bogus charges. I mean she shouldn’t be up there charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping.”
Oxendine says that while the couple was visiting the unit, Deaton left to get food and while she was gone he fell asleep. When she returned, he says she yelled for him but he was sleeping. She then assumed he had left, so locked the unit and left as well.
“She thought I had gone with an ex-girlfriend. That’s what it all boils down to, and I hadn’t,” Oxendine said. “She said she came [back] the next day, but I sleep hard, and I fell asleep. I had been up working for a couple days.”
Oxendine said he called 911 instead of Deaton because he had no service in the unit, and it was the only call that would go through. Monroe police officers said Oxendine told them Deaton shut the door on him after saying, “This is what you get.” Oxendine said that’s false, the source reported.
“Detectives have followed the facts of the case with corroborating evidence to support charging Deaton with kidnapping and attempted murder. The charges have been filed, and the case has been turned over to the Union County District Attorney’s Office,” the Monroe Police Department said in a statement.
Oxendine said he tried to get Deaton released on Thursday morning. She’s being held at Mecklenburg County Jail on a $40,000 bond. “If they want to trade me for her, I’ll go in there and sit. She needs to get out. She’s got two kids. I mean it’s just a bunch of bullcrap,” he said.
In Oxendine's 911 call, he says "She doubled up my lock, and I don't know how she put me in here but she put me in here."
The audio of the 911 call can be heard here: https://x.com/i/status/1895633201797963964
Original Story: February 28, 2025
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" took on new meaning when a woman locked her boyfriend inside a storage unit for four days without food, water, or light.
52-year-old Robin Renae Deaton of Union County, North Carolina locked her boyfriend, who's name has not been released, inside a storage unit at Cooper Storage on Old Charlotte Highway on Thursday, Feb. 20. Four days later, he was able to free himself after finding his phone inside the dark unit and calling 911.
The man told police that he and Deaton had been in an argument before she allegedly asked him to get something from the back of the storage unit. When he went in, she was accused of locking the door behind him.
“It’s a shock, considering we work across the street and we didn’t know this poor man was in the building literally suffering. Not knowing, that’s scary,” Lindsay Champion, who works across the street, told local news reporters.
Lt. Morgan Malone with the Monroe Police Department described the unit as 'a hoarder’s paradise.' “As soon as the officers opened up the door, things started falling out,” Malone said. “The further they opened it, more stuff fell out.”
Police believe the crowded room and complete darkness made it difficult for the man to find his phone. Once the man was out, the owner of Cooper Storage was shocked to learn a person had been locked inside. The owner said daily property checks did not reveal any signs of distress, nor did security footage capture any suspicious activity. He said his business was working with police as the investigation continued.
Court records showed that Deaton was denied bond by a magistrate within hours of her arrest. She has been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and attempted murder.
911 audio can be heard here: https://x.com/i/status/1895633201797963964