Stephan Leonard Smerk, 51, of Niskayuna, Schenectady County, New York, United States is a U.S. Army veteran. He was arrested after admitting to killing Robin Warr Lawrence of Springfield, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA.

Lawrence’s father Robert Warr was the first black city council member for Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, USA. He served in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Lawrence was Ollie Lawrence Jr.’s wife. In 1992, she gave birth to their daughter Nicole Lawrence.

Robin was the director of advertising for Merchant Tire Co. of Manassas, Prince William County, Virginia. She was supposed to celebrate Thanksgiving and her birthday in Connecticut, USA.

While out of town on a business trip, Ollie could not reach Robin so he called a female neighbor and asked her to go check on his wife. The neighbor called out to Robin but got no response.

When the neighbor called out Nicole’s name, the toddler came to her. The neighbor took the toddler from the house and called Ollie, who in turn called police. Nicole was not physically harmed but she was dehydrated.

At around 12:30 p.m. on November 20, 1994, Robin was found fatally stabbed inside her residence. She was 37. 

At 5:19 p.m. on September 7, 2023, Smerk turned himself into the Niskayuna Police Department. He confessed to murdering Robin when he was interviewed by Fairfax County Police Department detectives Melissa Wallace and JD Long.

Robin and Smerk did not know each other. He was an active-duty member of the U.S. Army when he murdered her.

Smerk was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. On September 26, 2023, he was extradited to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center in Fairfax, Fairfax County where he is being held without bond.