UPDATE: Man accused of throwing body in trash can pleads guilty
D’Shaun Robinson, the last person believed to have seen a missing Belmont man alive, pleaded guilty to several charges in court on Thursday.
UPDATE:
CHARLOTTE, NC – The last person believed to have seen a missing Belmont man alive pleaded guilty to several charges in the case on Thursday.
Andrew Tench disappeared in March of 2024.
D’Shaun Robinson and Tench were seen on camera leaving Bar 316 in South End.
According to Robinson, they were celebrating Tench’s birthday.
He admitted that the two had sex, and Tench died while they were together.
He also said he threw Tench’s body in a trash can.
Robinson pleaded guilty to concealment of death, identity theft and second-degree burglary in Mecklenburg County court Thursday.
The judge sentenced him to 13-25 months for the second-degree burglary charge and combined the sentence for the concealment of death and identity theft to a consecutive sentence of 17-30 months in prison.
See our previous reporting below.
ORIGINAL STORY (POSTED 4/8/25):
CHARLOTTE, NC – A continued push for justice after a judge rejected a plea deal offer Tuesday for the last person believed to see Andrew Tench alive. Tench’s mother Tracie Blanton says, “He (D’Shaun Robinson) took my son, her brother, nephew, his brother.”
This was the second attempt by prosecutors to get a deal that would allow D’Shaun Robinson to plead guilty to concealing a death and identity theft and receive up to 17 months in prison.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Tench’s sister Natasha Newman presented a judge with a petition asking to keep Robinson in jail. She says, “We had printed off everyone’s signature, which included 6,200, over 6,200 signatures.”
Robinson and Tench were seen on camera leaving Bar 316 in South End in March 2024. According to Robinson, they were celebrating Tench’s birthday. He admitted that the two had sex, and Tench died while they were together. He also said he threw Tench’s body in a trash can. Blanton says, “If my son’s there, if he is, I want him out of there. And (given) a dignified exit from this life. Not a landfill. He’s not trash.”
Tench’s family says they haven’t been able to search the landfill for his body. They say finding his remains is the only way to confirm what happened. Newman says, “If Andy was truly thrown in that dumpster, that’s where he’s at. And we deserve the justice. And if that was their family, they would be out there in a quick minute.”
Tench’s family wants Robinson to face a harsher punishment. They say they will continue to fight until Tench gets the justice he deserves.
