Woman guilty of robbery and gun offense

By Linda Cicoira

A Horntown woman, who admitted to “casing” a store just before her boyfriend went inside and robbed the clerk at gunpoint last year, pleaded guilty Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to robbery and use of a firearm in a felony.

Thirty-six-year-old Cari Lynn Johnson, of Blue Heron Drive, went inside the Great Market Hacienda, on Lankford Highway near Parksley, on Oct. 24, 2022, looked around, asked clerk Brenda Morales Hernandez if she would cash a check, and left.

Then Rodney Oneil Hinmon, of Seaford, Del., who is serving three years of active time for his crimes, went inside wearing a mask, robbed the clerk, threw the store phone, and fled with $450.

The couple were later arrested in Pennsylvania.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan said the gun that Hinman used in the robbery had a light pink hue and belonged to Johnson.

Defense lawyer Isabel Kaldenbach said her client was not in the store when the robbery occurred, “did not wave a gun in anyone’s face, did not drive the get-a-way car,” and waved a preliminary hearing.

Retired Judge Les Lilley found Johnson guilty. The maximum penalty for her crimes is 23 years in prison, included a three-year mandatory term. Sentencing was set for Sept. 28.